Republicans Shouldn’t Abandon Wins of the Trump Economy

This month’s midterm elections made clear how frustrated Americans are with the price of fuel, groceries, and other essentials. Republicans could have done more to ease those pressures and explain what their economic agenda had delivered. About six in ten voters said they were very concerned about the cost of food and groceries, according to the AP Voter Poll.

But the knee-jerk reaction among some conservatives has been to declare the Trump economy and its agenda an abject failure. That defeatism gives Republicans little to build on as they try to win back seats in 2028. It also overlooks real progress since the economic destruction of the Biden years.

Republicans should sharpen their economic message and put forward a more compelling plan to bring down the cost of living in 2028. They should also defend what has gone right under President Trump. The election was lost. But the economic gains are real, and the numbers back it up.

Start with jobs. The U.S. added 165,000 jobs in October, beating expectations, and unemployment stood at 4.1 percent. The economy grew at a 3.4 percent annual rate from July through September, according to the government’s initial estimate, again above expectations. Consumers spent more, and investment helped drive the expansion.

Workers also recovered some of the purchasing power they lost during the Biden years. In February, the White House estimated that private-sector workers had regained nearly $1,400 in inflation-adjusted annual earnings during Trump’s first year back in office, after losing nearly $3,000 under Biden. That’s more than a third of the earlier loss.

Moreover, although the stock market has had a rough stretch over the past month or so (mostly since Democrats won back control of Congress on November 3), the gains are still strong overall since Trump returned to office – up more than 27 percent since January 20, 2025.

Meanwhile, investment continues to pour into the United States thanks to Trump’s dealmaking prowess. These gains will take longer to realize, as construction projects and the jobs they bring take time. But there’s no denying that Trump has set the stage for a long-term economic boom.

As just one recent example, in October, U.S. Steel’s board authorized nearly $3 billion for a new hot strip mill at its Edgar Thomson plant. The mill will roll steel slabs into coils, giving the company more capacity to produce the kinds of steel automakers and other manufacturers need. It’s part of a broader plan, following the deal with Japan’s Nippon Steel, to invest $11 billion in the United States by the end of 2028. Just before the election, Trump also announced that Mesabi Metallics would build the largest-ever steel plant in the United States in Iowa.

The investment reaches beyond steel. In New York and Vermont, GlobalFoundries has outlined a $16 billion plan that builds on earlier commitments to expand chipmaking and advanced packaging. Those facilities serve industries ranging from autos to aerospace.

In South Carolina, BMW said this summer that it had completed the $1.7 billion expansion it announced in 2022. The company upgraded its Spartanburg assembly plant and built a battery assembly facility in nearby Woodruff. BMW projected about 300 jobs at the battery plant when it announced the project. These investments strengthen the domestic supply chains that manufacturers rely on when they decide where to build their next product.

Republicans should take credit for improving the conditions for the next round of investment. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), passed in 2025, made full first-year expensing permanent for qualifying investments. A manufacturer that buys eligible machinery can deduct the full cost in the first year instead of spreading the deduction over several years. That makes equipment purchases more attractive and gives businesses a predictable tax rule when they plan their next expansion.

For companies deciding whether to modernize a production line or put off the purchase, the timing of that deduction can matter.

Moreover, the American people have benefitted in tangible ways from the OBBB. This past spring was the largest tax refund season in American history thanks to new policies like No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Overtime, and a special deduction for seniors that means nearly 90 percent of Social Security recipients effectively pay no tax on their benefits. Perhaps most importantly of all, the OBBB blocked what would have amounted to a $4 trillion tax hike – something Democrats all voted to let happen.

Gas and grocery bills are still a strain, inflation is still eating into paychecks, and the national debt demands attention. The midterms gave Republicans every reason to take those problems more seriously.

But the GOP should not forget that it has an economic record worth defending – especially as Democrats now have to move from campaigning to governing. Nothing in their agenda suggests that their “affordability” promises will come to fruition.

The country is adding jobs, output is growing, and stocks are well above where they stood when Trump took office. Workers regained some purchasing power in his first year, and major manufacturers are committing billions to American plants. These successes must remain a key part of Republicans’ messaging moving forward.