Trump's Jobs Plan Has Been An 'Abject Failure,' Says Economist Paul Krugman: 'Significant Numbers' Of Americans Regret Their Choice

Nobel Prize–winning economist Paul Krugman said President Donald Trump's economic agenda has failed to deliver on its core promise of job creation, arguing that his tariffs and other policies have instead weakened U.S. competitiveness and hurt employment in key sectors.

Trump’s Jobs Plan An ‘Abject Failure’

In his newsletter on Monday, Krugman said, “a significant number of Americans who voted for Donald Trump in 2024 now regret their choice,” with disappointment largely driven by Trump's failure to meet economic expectations.

While much of the public debate has focused on Trump's pledge to bring down prices, Krugman said that “the main goal of his policy agenda wasn't lower prices, it was job creation.”

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Trump had pledged to revive U.S. manufacturing through sweeping tariffs, deregulation and the mass deportation of undocumented workers, triggering a hiring doom for American workers. Instead, Krugram said the results have moved in the opposite direction, adding, “even on its own absurd terms, the MAGA jobs strategy has been an abject failure.”

According to Krugman, employment in manufacturing, construction and mining increased under former President Joe Biden, in part due to his green energy policies.

However, employment across many of these sectors has fallen “since Trump took office,” following his reversal of these policies. He added that official employment figures may ultimately be revised lower, making the figures under Trump much worse.

Krugman said that Trump's trade agenda rests on several fundamental misunderstandings, including his belief that the elimination of the U.S. trade deficit can help boost manufacturing employment.

Quoting research from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Krugman noted that such a scenario would raise the share of U.S. manufacturing production jobs by less than one percentage point. “They didn't do the math,” he said.

He also warned that tariffs are raising costs for domestic producers, thus making them “less competitive” against foreign manufacturers.

Fragile Labor Market Despite Economic Growth

Economist Justin Wolfers echoed similar concerns on Monday, saying that the American economy had effectively stalled, with “close to zero jobs” being created since the “Liberation Day” tariffs were announced in early April.

The U.S. economy is expected to grow by 2% in 2026, according to a National Association of Business Economics Survey, which marks an uptick from 1.8%, which was projected in October, and 1.3% in June.

However, most respondents expect job creation to remain subdued throughout the year, with unemployment forecasted to stay at 4.5%.

According to recent analysis by the Bank of America’s Global Research, the U.S. economy is being propped up by AI spending, without which the nation would have entered a recession. The report stated that AI spending contributed 62.5%, or a full percentage point, to the 1.6% GDP growth during the first six months of 2025.

Read More:

• ‘That Is Not Strategy’—Investor Kevin O’Leary Says Tariffs Were Meant To Be Reciprocal And Simple. Instead, They Created ‘Chaos Overnight’

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