House Democrats of all stripes have spent the entirety of President Trump’s first two months denouncing his governing strategy as chaotic and hammering his policy prescriptions as harmful to working class people — even those who supported the president.
Few have sent that message as colorfully as Rep. Andrea Salinas, a first-term Oregon Democrat, who accused Trump on Thursday of deceiving his own supporters.
“Trump lied to those who voted for him. And I know that those in my district who voted for Trump did not vote for this —-storm,” Salinas said during a press briefing amid the Democrats’ annual strategy retreat in Leesburg, Va.
“They did not vote for that. That wasn’t the deal.”
Trump, on the campaign trail, had accused President Biden of tanking the economy, particularly when it came to inflation, and vowed a series of fixes to liberate investment and bring down the cost of consumer goods on the first day of his second term.
Instead, the price of many products has risen since Inauguration Day, while consumer confidence has seen its steepest decline since 2021. On Thursday, the S&P 500 dropped into correction territory, largely in response to investor jitters surrounding Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs aimed at some of America’s closest allies. And the president’s firing blitz against federal employees has sparked fears
Trump’s closest allies, including Cabinet officials, have defended the moves, arguing that the short-term pain will pay dividends over the long haul that will benefit Americans of all income levels.
On Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said a recession resulting from Trump’s tariff policies would be “worth it” because of the long-term benefits.
“The only reason there could possibly be a recession is because of the Biden nonsense that we had to live with,” he said in an interview with CBS News.
Democrats have vastly different views. They’re quick to note that Trump inherited an economy where unemployment was near historic lows and the stock market was near historic highs. They’re accusing Trump of crashing the economy in pursuit of retributive policies.
“I don’t care if you voted for Donald Trump or you did not,” Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), the Democratic whip, said Thursday in Leesburg. “You voted for a chance to get ahead. That if you play by the rules, you have a job that allows you to provide for your family, you pay your taxes, you are going to be able to be successful.
“That’s the American Dream,” she added. “And now they are setting out to dismantle that.”
