US voters evaluate Trump’s economy after a year

When campaigning to become president for a second time, Donald Trump made economic development a central part of his pitch to voters.

A year after returning to the White House, we asked voters about that promise. What do they think about the state of the economy? Is their life better now than it was last year?

People from across the US and the political spectrum talk to the BBC about setting food budgets, applying for jobs and more. Here is what some of them had to say.

This Michigander, a Republican, has seen the prices of basic foods plummet in his rural area since Trump returned to the White House.

At the beginning of the year, things were more difficult. The gas was really bad and then we had trouble getting a food truck in because I live in a rural area, so the price went up.

Where other people complain about $7 (£5.23) eggs, we have $11 (£8.22) eggs.

Some days it’s like deciding if the dogs eat or I eat. I’m on social security and I have a budget and I’m allowed food stamps, but I only get $24 a month and that doesn’t buy much.

It’s better now, it’s like night and day. We are aiming for a better place these days, things have come a long way from where we were a year ago.

An independent voter, this father of an 18-month-old boy cut his food budget after he discovered the shockingly high price of childcare.

Everything seems to be going up in price.

Childcare costs about $25,000 a year, which really shocked me. My parents are probably retiring next year, which will help. I work as an engineer in data centers and my wife is an airline pilot, and neither of us wants to quit our jobs to take care of the kids.

It feels like Trump isn’t telling the truth about almost anything, so it’s hard to know exactly how the economy is doing. I grade him 4 out of 10 for the economy, because he talks about it more than he does to help it.

Shrinkflation drives me crazy. We bought baby formula, a 32 oz bottle, and then a little while later when we went to buy it again it came in a 24 oz bottle. Same product, just less value for the same price.

This Indiana Republican supports the president but feels he was better in the first Trump administration than the second … until now.

I know inflation is down, supposedly, but the prices for all kinds of other things are too high, electricity, all that stuff.

I think a lot of people want Trump to enforce immigration, I think that will probably hurt some of the economy.

There’s a lot of things he can do – which he does – but he’s in so many places that I think he needs to focus on a few things. He promises that the economy is the main thing, but I don’t know that it is completely.

Compared to what I remember from the previous Trump administration, I feel like I did better then.

We still have a lot of things that (the Trump administration) is working on, so we’ll see.

This independent voter is concerned about how Trump’s focus on foreign policy will ultimately affect the US economy.

In the first few months he referenced the economy, but I can’t tell you the last time I saw reporters question Trump about the economy let alone answer it himself.

My husband and I are actually worried about the economic collapse.

We are saving a lot of money – thinking of buying a house – but we have it in our mind that if there is a problem, we are completely safe.

Politics and the economy are closely connected, so what our president does affects the economy. That’s why the threats to Greenland and Denmark and these comments about Nato worry me so much.

This registered Democrat graduated from university last year, and hasn’t been able to find a job since, despite a job market the president is proud of.

A year after graduation, I could not find a stable job that had a great impact on my life and the life of my family.

It’s not that I didn’t apply for a job. I apply for jobs every day. It’s the fact that people aren’t hiring, partially because they can’t afford to hire.

You look at interviews where Trump says ‘Oh, the job market has never been better, we’ve created more jobs than ever before’.

As someone who has actually been through that (market), I haven’t seen the data, I haven’t seen the proof.

This financial consultant, an independent voter, says his finances were “pretty advanced” this time last year, but he worries the gains won’t last.

On the campaign trail, Trump often stated all the problems with inflation, and his intention to solve it quickly. But once back in office, with this recent geopolitical activity with Iran and Venezuela, I think it took a back seat.

But it’s clearly an issue for most Americans, and that’s why he’s keeping it at least a secondary priority.

I think the tax breaks helped drive profits higher for companies and the stock market did well because of that. I don’t think the policies have generated enough growth to cover the cost increases we’ve seen at the same time.

I hope the Federal Reserve has enough autonomy to manage independently. I think the use of the justice department to threaten the Federal Reserve is very troubling.

What questions do you have about Trump’s first year since returning as President? Click here or use the form below.