How Do You Sell America on a Recession?
The president’s biggest strength is marketing but a sagging economy is a self-own he will struggle to rebrand.
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Photographer: Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump was all bluster and magical thinking, promising to immediately fix what he dubbed President Joe Biden’s weak, inflation-riddled economy and to bring relief to millions of Americans struggling with high prices. As president, Trump and his administration are full of useless advice for Americans, encouraging backyard chicken coops to deal with the price of eggs and patience as retirement investment accounts take a beating and costs remain stubbornly high.
And the policies and pronouncements of his first weeks in office have imperiled an economy that was the envy of the world post-Covid, and made it the source of recession fears, chaos and all-around agita. But fear not, there will be economic paradise, Trump has said, after this period of “disturbance.” It is a rhetorical shift, from a promise of immediate results to a delayed outcome, that will test Trump’s skills as a salesman able to create his own reality.