by Paul Waldman | Aug 2, 2026 | Economy, Opinion, White House
When you surf over to WhiteHouse.gov, you’re greeted with video of inspiring shots of the president and text claiming that “Under President Donald Trump’s second administration, the United States has surged into a new era of prosperity, marked by record-setting economic growth and trillions in new private-sector investments fueled by tax reforms, deregulation, and a renewed focus on American innovation.” Scroll down the page, and a box appears, prompting you to sign up for a newsletter with the words “WELCOME TO THE GOLDEN AGE!” in all caps.
There is one room in Washington where a “golden age” exists: the Oval Office, into which Trump has crammed gilded junk onto every wall and into every corner. But for those who don’t share the president’s gaudy aesthetic, the golden age is nowhere in evidence.
Trump’s answer to that disgruntlement is to just tell people they’ve never had it so good.
On Thursday, the Commerce Department released the latest GDP figures, showing that the American economy grew at a 1.5% rate in the second quarter of 2026. That’s not a catastrophe; our economy is both enormous and resilient, and can absorb a remarkable amount of poor decision-making from Washington. But it’s not great either — and it’s a hundred miles from a golden age.
Wage growth is barely keeping up with inflation, which is sitting at 3.5%, well above the Fed’s 2% target. That’s why its rate-setting committee opted to keep interest rates where they are, so too bad if you’re hoping to buy a home anytime soon. The share of GDP going to workers is lower than at any point since the government began measuring
by Chris Walker | Jul 29, 2026 | Donald Trump, Economy, immigration, iran war, News, Polls, Trump approval rating
Just over a year and a half after he re-entered the White House for a second term, more Americans than ever disapprove of President Donald Trump’s job performance. According to a CNN/SSRS poll published on Wednesday, just 34 percent of Americans give Trump approving marks. Conversely, 66 percent say they disapprove of the way he’s handled his job as president. Trump’s approval numbers…
Source
by C.J. Polychroniou | Jul 18, 2026 | AI, Child Care, Economy, Interview, Universal Basic Income, Wealth Tax
The idea of a universal basic income has been around for decades, but it is now growing in popularity as artificial intelligence threatens to make our economic future under neoliberal capitalism even more precarious. Yet, no one would argue that a universal basic income is a panacea to capitalism’s evils. Moreover, there are different proposals for implementing a universal basic income…
Source
by Maximillian Alvarez | Jul 15, 2026 | AI, Economy, Economy and Inequality, Podcast, Politics and Movements: US, Working People
In so-called “red states” and “blue states” around the US, from rural areas to urban centers, the explosion of new data center projects is impacting residents in poor, working-class, and middle-class communities alike. In this episode of Working People, we speak with a diverse panel of residents fighting new and proposed data center projects in Texas and Maryland about what it means for you and your community when one of these loud, polluting, energy- and water-guzzling behemoths comes to your town—and how to fight back.
Panelists include: Cheryl Shadden, a registered nurse anesthetist who lives right next to the site of a Marathon bitcoin mine in Granbury, Texas; Karen Pearson, a licensed professional counselor and a resident of Granbury who also lives right next to the Marathon bitcoin mine; Dr. Shannon Wolf, Precinct Chair in Hood County, who lives three miles from the Marathon bitcoin mine; Craig Jackson, a resident of Granbury who lives 300 feet from the site of a new proposed data center, and who is also a plaintiff in a current lawsuit residents have filed against the city of Granbury; Micaiah Lloyd, a grassroots organizer and resident of Charles County, Maryland, who lives near the site of a proposed data center; Hillary Gonzalez, an eco-poet, author, founder of Sacred Parks & Waterways, and a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, who lives right next to the site of Johns Hopkins University’s future Data Science and Artificial Intelligence complex.
Additional links/info:
Protect Hood County website and Facebook page
Sacred Parks & Waterways website and Instagram
Viral MS Now clip featuring Cheryl Shadden of Granbury, Texas
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “A bitcoin mine in Texas
by James Downie | Jul 12, 2026 | Economy, Opinion, White House
“FREEDOM FUEL HAS ARRIVED,” the White House’s X account announced this week. The post touted the first “Freedom Fuel Network” gas station, “lowering the price at the pump to $3.47 for our 47th President.” The White House’s announcement provided few details, leaving the reader — and the viewer of the accompanying video — the impression that the administration, whether through subsidy or takeover, was directly intervening to lower gas prices.
Freedom Fuel, however, is not stealth Marxism from a president fearmongering about “communist” Democrats. “A VERY smart Retailer, located throughout the Northeast, is stepping up,” Trump announced on social media before the July 4 weekend. “They are doing this because they love the U.S.A.” It is not clear who runs the Freedom Fuel Network, with 25 stations in Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. The Delaware Department of State lists a filing for Freedom Fuel Network LLC from June 23, but no other information.
But whoever is behind Freedom Fuel, Trump’s praise is emblematic of his second year back in the White House: a half-hearted, poorly thought-out stunt.
The administration later clarified that its support is strictly promotional.
Though the White House post on X said, “President Trump is leading the charge to lower gas prices this summer,” the administration later clarified that its support is strictly promotional. “The administration is not involved in the company, nor has the administration given the company any funding. There is no other entity or person subsidizing the lower gasoline costs,” a White House spokesperson told CNN.
Trump is apparently hoping for copycats. For days, he has complained that gas prices are not as low as they were before he
by Maximillian Alvarez | Jul 6, 2026 | east palestine, Economy, Economy and Inequality, Podcast, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, railroad, sacrifice zones, Working People
10 years before the catastrophic train derailment and chemical disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, one of the deadliest rail disasters in North American history took place in the Canadian town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec.
On July 6, 2013, an unattended freight train that had been parked on the tracks overnight began to roll downhill and gather alarming speed as it careened towards the city center of Lac-Mégantic. The train, which was operated by Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic Railway and carrying over 2 million gallons of crude oil, derailed around 1:15 AM. The resulting explosions and fire killed 47 people and destroyed over 40 buildings, obliterating a large portion of the downtown area and prompting mass evacuations.
In this special episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of survivors of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster in Canada and the East Palestine rail disaster in the USA.
Panelists include: Robert Bellefleur, a resident of Lac-Mégantic and spokesperson for the Lac-Mégantic Citizens’ Coalition for Railroad Safety; Gilbert Carette, a resident of Lac-Mégantic and a member of the Lac-Mégantic Citizens’ Coalition for Railroad Safety; Gilles Fluet, a resident of Lac-Mégantic who narrowly escaped the 2013 train crash and witnessed the derailment firsthand; Anne-Marie Saint-Cerny, award-winning writer, videographer, social and environmental justice activist, and author of Mégantic: A Deadly Mix of Oil, Rail, and Avarice; Jami Wallace, a displaced resident of East Palestine, Ohio, and founder of the Chemically Impacted Communities Coalition; Christina Siceloff, a Creek Ranger and resident of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, affected by the 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical disaster.
If you or members of your community are interested in attending or participating in TRNN’s
