Donald Trump won the presidency in 2024 largely by securing the votes of working-class Americans earning under $50,000 a year. These voters believed he represented their interests, promising to boost the economy and protect their livelihoods. But just months into his second term, Trump’s economic policies reveal a stark reality: his latest budget bill is an outright betrayal of the working class, funneling massive wealth to the richest while cutting essential support for those who need it most.
The so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” which narrowly passed the House last week, exemplifies this betrayal on a massive scale. According to the Penn-Wharton Budget Model and analysis by the Yale Budget Lab, the bill overwhelmingly benefits the wealthiest Americans while imposing real losses on the poorest.
Here’s the breakdown: the top 10 percent of income earners will receive a whopping 70 percent of the bill’s benefits. Digging deeper, the richest 1 percent are projected to see an average after-tax income increase of $63,060, a staggering windfall by any measure. Meanwhile, the bottom 20 percent of earners are set to lose, on average, $805 per year.
How is this possible? The bill combines massive tax cuts for the rich with deep spending cuts to critical social programs that millions of working-class families rely on. These cuts include a $698 billion slash to Medicaid, which provides health care coverage to low-income individuals, children, and seniors. There’s also nearly $300 billion cut from food stamps, a lifeline for many struggling households.
The human cost of these cuts will be severe and widespread. The Congressional Budget Office projects that by 2034, approximately 15 million Americans will lose health insurance due to reduced Medicaid access and lower subsidies on Affordable Care Act exchanges. This loss of coverage threatens not only individuals’ health and financial stability but also the survival of rural hospitals, many of which serve predominantly working-class communities.
The consequences extend beyond dollars and cents. Losing access to Medicaid means many working-class families will face impossible choices between paying rent, buying food, or getting medical care. For seniors and people with disabilities, the cuts could mean losing the care they depend on to live with dignity.
Trump’s budget bill also adds to the national debt by more than $3 trillion. This ballooning debt is not just a number on a page; it translates into higher interest costs that will be borne by taxpayers. Future financial crises become more likely as the government struggles to service this growing debt load. Meanwhile, working Americans face the risk of economic instability and less government capacity to respond to crises that disproportionately impact them.
What’s particularly galling about this bill is the contrast between Trump’s rhetoric and reality. Exit polls from the 2024 election showed his winning margin came from voters earning below the national median income, many of whom believed Trump was fighting for their economic interests. Yet, his administration is now pushing policies that squeeze these same voters hardest, undermining their health, safety nets, and economic security.
This strategy echoes the Reagan-era trickle-down economics that promises prosperity for all but consistently delivers gains only for the wealthy. The difference now is the brazen openness with which these policies are implemented. Unlike previous administrations that often masked the harshness of cuts to social programs, Trump and his allies make no effort to hide the fact that they are prioritizing the wealthy at the expense of the working class.
This blatant approach raises serious questions about the durability of Trump’s coalition. Can a party that openly dismantles social safety nets while enriching the richest maintain the loyalty of working-class voters? The coming election cycles will be a test of whether voters are willing to continue supporting policies that hurt them most.
For workers and activists in the antiwork movement, this bill is a clear example of systemic failure, a government and economic system designed to prop up the rich while leaving the rest to fend for themselves. It highlights the urgent need for collective action to demand policies that genuinely support working people: universal health care, living wages, job security, and a fair share of economic prosperity.
In the meantime, millions of Americans face growing uncertainty. As hospitals close, benefits shrink, and debts mount, the promises made by Trump ring hollow. The working class is left paying the price for a bill that benefits a wealthy elite, while the rest are forced to tighten their belts even more.
