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Trump Has Dragged The Economy To Its Lowest Point Since 1952

The University of Michigan has been measuring consumer sentiment since 1952, and Donald Trump has caused the worst measurement in history.

Sarah Jones & Jason Easley's avatar
Sarah Jones & Jason Easley
Apr 10, 2026
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When the history of the second Trump administration is studied, the story will be how the American people elected a candidate to fix the economy, but instead, he destroyed everything.

Sometimes, numbers, especially when they are attached to the economy, can be misleading. To those in Washington, D.C. who study the numbers from 20,000 feet above, economic statistics can tell a story that doesn’t match the reality of what people are feeling on the ground.

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That is what happened during the Biden administration, and it led the previous Democratic administration to overlook red flags and warning signs about the economy that were everywhere.

There is no confusion when it comes to Donald Trump’s second administration. The numbers and the perception on the ground are on the same page.

CNBC reported on the University of Michigan’s measurement of consumer sentiment:

The university’s headline index of consumer sentiment tumbled to 47.6, down 10.7% from the March survey to its lowest on record. Current conditions and expectations indexes also saw double-digit monthly declines.

The drop in sentiment coincided with a sharp spike in inflation expectations, with respondents seeing prices up 4.8% in a year from now, a full percentage point rise from the March reading to its highest since August 2025. The one-year outlook in April 2025 was 6.5% following President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariff announcement.

However, that is not all that Trump has done to the economy.

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