Overview:
President Trump's administration is facing criticism over economic policy, civil rights rollbacks, and an increasingly authoritarian approach to governance. A new report from Americans for Tax Fairness shows that Trump's aggressive tariff agenda has already cost American households an additional $14 billion. The effective tax rate on all imported goods will reach 18% by year's end, the highest since 1901. The burden of the tariff costs is falling hardest on working-class Americans, who are absorbing nearly one-third of the new tariff costs.
By Stacy M. Brown
One hundred days into Donald Trump’s second presidential term, his administration faces mounting criticism over economic policy, civil rights rollbacks, and an increasingly authoritarian approach to governance.
A new report from Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) shows that Trump’s aggressive tariff agenda has already cost American households an additional $14 billion.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that taxes on foreign imports soared to $96.3 billion in the first quarter of 2025, up 17% from last year. Americans for Tax Fairness concluded that under Trump’s current plan, the effective tax rate on all imported goods will reach 18% by year’s end.
Without changes in consumer purchasing patterns, the rate could rise to 28%, the highest since 1901.
“These are just the first effects of Trump’s reckless and regressive tariffs — the beginning of higher costs that families will face due to the president’s incompetent trade policies and to fund his tax giveaway to billionaires,” said David Kass, executive director of ATF. “This is not about protecting American workers — it’s about shifting the burden to those least able to afford it.”
An ATF analysis of income data shows the burden is falling hardest on working-class Americans. The bottom 60% of earners, who collectively take home about one-fifth of national income, are absorbing nearly one-third of the new tariff costs. Meanwhile, the top 1% of income earners — those making over $940,000 annually — will account for just one-tenth of the tariff burden despite receiving more than 20% of national income.
Trump has proposed replacing income taxes with tariff revenue. While corporate tax rates have continued to fall, the Yale Budget Lab now estimates that corporations are paying a lower effective tax rate than American consumers through tariffs for the first time in nearly a century.
The approach mirrors the economic structure of the Gilded Age, an era Trump has praised publicly. During that time, poverty affected more than 70% of the population, and there were no federal income or corporate taxes to support public services.
Outrage over Trump’s policies sparked protests in Washington on Tuesday. More than 200 people shut down morning rush hour traffic for over two hours. Demonstrators blocked intersections and demanded an end to what they called “100 days of disaster.”
Eight people were arrested.
“For 100 days, Trump, Musk, and their billionaire friends have stripped away our fundamental freedoms — abducting our neighbors, cracking down on political dissidents, and attempting to erase trans people from existence,” said organizer Ella Weber. “In this moment, our choice is clear: courage or compliance. We’ve made our decision — join us.”
Olivia DiNucci of CODEPINK said the administration is funneling taxpayer money into militarism and foreign conflict while cutting essential services.
“On Trump’s 100th day of disaster, we see 100 more days of death and destruction for the people of Gaza,” she asserted. “While social services are gutted, billions to Israel and a trillion-dollar Pentagon budget surge expose the hypocrisy.”
Thomas Mande of Jews Against Fascism denounced the administration’s immigration crackdown.
“For 100 days, Donald Trump, Tom Homan, and Stephen Miller have taken a wrecking ball to our freedoms to enact a xenophobic campaign of mass extrajudicial detentions and deportations,” Mande said. “Our tradition commands us: ‘You must not stand idly by as your neighbor bleeds.’”
Sunrise Movement DC’s Alejandro Sobrera said working-class Americans suffer as the wealthy grow richer.
“This administration continues to line the pockets of billionaires while selling out working-class people and our planet. CEOs responsible for climate destruction are profiting while our communities face the fallout,” Sobrera offered.
Free DC’s Alex Dodds and Metro DC DSA’s Marli Kasdan issued a joint statement criticizing the administration’s disregard for District residents.
“Speaker Johnson and the capitalist class are focused on a political agenda that’s harming workers, students, immigrants, and older Americans,” Dodds remarked. “It’s about to cost D.C. communities $1.1 billion. We are choosing courage over compliance.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, said Trump’s first 100 days represent a sweeping attack on civil rights and equity.
“Donald Trump has signed more than 140 executive orders, including actions to gut diversity in federal government, bully the private sector to do the same, erase Black history, erode police accountability, and attack our LGBTQ+ loved ones,” Sharpton said. “Simply put, Donald Trump’s first 100 days are Project 2025 in motion.”
Sharpton warned that Trump’s policies are pushing Black businesses, college graduates, and workers to the margins.
“Trump may have executive orders. He may have the House and the Senate. He may have a conservative Supreme Court that will stand idly by even when he defies their orders,” he demanded. “But he does not control our dollars. He cannot stop us from marching. So NAN will march on Wall Street this August 28 to send a message to Corporate America and financial institutions that our buying power cannot be ignored.”
The Not Above the Law coalition, a network of more than 150 advocacy, legal, and policy organizations, has tracked what it calls Trump’s dismantling of constitutional governance. The coalition cited the administration’s refusal to follow a Supreme Court order to return a Maryland man unlawfully deported to El Salvador.
It also noted Trump’s use of executive orders to instruct the Justice Department to investigate political opponents, sweeping pardons for January 6 rioters and political allies, the arrest of a Milwaukee judge as part of a campaign to intimidate the judiciary, and retaliatory actions against universities, law firms, and nonprofits.
Sharpton and others say the resistance is far from over.
“We have come too far, heard too many commitments, and proved our case for success to go back now,” Sharpton assured.
The post President Trump Brings America 100 Days of Despair appeared first on The Washington Informer.
The post President Trump Brings America 100 Days of Despair appeared first on Word In Black.
The post {{post title}}, https://wordinblack.com/2025/04/president-trump-brings-america-100-days-of-despair/ appeared first on Word in Black.