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How Trump and Musk can revive the economy for American workers

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How Trump and Musk can revive the economy for American workers

Donald Trump’s agenda tends overwhelmingly to get rid of the government. The working class is tired of being controlled by distant rulers in Washington, DC

John Tilman
| Opinion Contributor

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The working class is in open revolt.

That’s the biggest takeaway from Donald Trump’s reelection. The former and future president dramatically expanded his support among Americans without a college degree, gaining clear majorities among families with annual incomes of less than $100,000 and making great strides with minority communities that skew working class.

These voters are furious after four years of rising inflation and falling incomes, which have only started to rise in recent months. They want Trump to revolutionize the economy and create the opportunities they have lacked for so long.

Now Trump has to deliver. Voters from the Midwest and the Rust Belt want him to usher in a new era of manufacturing. Rural voters want him to reverse the long-term decline of their communities.

Even in traditionally blue states like New Jersey and Illinois, and big cities like New York and Chicago, working-class voters who supported Trump in unprecedented numbers expect him to create an economy with higher wages and better jobs.

Working-class voters are flourishing in some parts of the US

Can Trump succeed? Absolute.

It starts with recognizing why some working-class neighborhoods are already thriving – and why so many others are not. Then it’s a matter of breaking down the barriers that keep struggling communities from moving forward.

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Think about the starkly different realities of where I grew up and where I live now. I grew up in one of the few places where the working class can still make progress: a small town just north of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Grand Rapids and the Western Michigan region have thrived for decades, driven by a culture of entrepreneurship and limited local government that encourages hard work and initiative.

In contrast, I now live in Chicago, where the working class is falling behind. The city, along with the Illinois government, has suppressed people’s potential through massive taxes, endless red tape, and a culture of victimhood.

To be clear, the people of Chicago have the same innate ability and drive as those of Grand Rapids. But politicians prevent them from emerging and flourishing.

That’s where Trump can really lead. There’s not much he can do to stop states like Illinois and cities like Chicago from making foolish decisions. But he can clear the countless federal roadblocks that make it harder for working-class Americans across the country to get ahead.

He should do everything in his power to promote a broader culture of empowerment and entrepreneurship, and encourage people to achieve the economic progress they so desperately seek.

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To his credit, Trump is already moving in that direction. He supports extending and deepening his 2017 tax cuts, which are critical to the success of small businesses and wage increases for workers.

He is also committed to massive deregulation, ending things like de facto electric vehicle mandates that are destroying auto jobs. The Department of Government Efficiency he recently announced has the potential to eliminate hundreds of thousands of counterproductive regulations.

No one benefits more than the working class. Fragmenting federal mandates is essential to making American manufacturing competitive again, and reduced burdens will allow more companies to build and expand factories in the Midwest and beyond.

Rolling back regulations will also lead to a new wave of small business creation, because the red tape hurts Main Street far more than Wall Street. The rural communities that overwhelmingly voted for Trump need Main Street to be revitalized, and fast.

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Trump could even go a step further with truly outside-the-box ideas. He could shift federal education funding so it goes to real training programs, not failed factories like many public schools. He could also build on his “opportunity zones” from his first term, exempting the hardest-hit communities from federal regulation and taxes. They would become “freedom zones” where people can drive progress from below, rather than being oppressed by government from above.

The working class has big expectations of Trump, so there need to be big ideas on the table.

Likewise, bad ideas must be swept away, including excessive tariffs that harm the working class under the guise of aid.

Despite such dangers, Trump’s agenda tends overwhelmingly to get rid of the government. The working class is tired of being controlled by distant rulers in Washington, DC

They expect a revolution in their fortunes and their future, and if anyone can deliver, it’s Donald Trump.

John Tillman is chairman of the American culture project.

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