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Andrea Austria / Media Matters

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On “Liberation Day,” right-wing media predicted Trump’s tariffs would boost the economy. So far, the effects have been disastrous.

Written by Jane Lee

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When Trump rolled out his tariff policy on “Liberation Day” last year, his lackeys in right-wing media cheered him on, declaring that tariffs would boost the economy. A few figures acknowledged there would be short-term pain, as others made enthusiastic predictions that Trump's tariff policy would lead to economic prosperity. 

  • Leading Trump sycophant Sean Hannity claimed tariffs would generate “a new golden age of American wealth and exceptionalism.” 

  • Fox Business' Elizabeth MacDonald stated Trump was trying to “reignite a manufacturing golden age.” 

  • Newsmax host Carl Higbie declared, “American jobs being created because we want to make things more fair.”

A year later, Trump’s tariffs have had disastrous effects on the economy:

  • The American economy actually supports fewer total jobs than before the sweeping tariffs were announced.

  • The manufacturing industry lost nearly 100,000 jobs in the 10 months following the announcement.

  • The trade deficit has barely narrowed.

  • Families have been burdened with an estimated annual cost ranging from $1,000 to $2,000. 

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  • Nearly a year after its rollout, Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff policy has undeniably undermined the economy

    • The American economy has lost jobs since Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariff agenda was unveiled last April. When the most-recent monthly jobs report for February 2026 was released, it showed a significant decline in jobs that month coupled with downward revisions for January and December, meaning the United States economy has 19,000 fewer jobs than it did in last April, when Trump’s global retaliatory tariff agenda was unveiled. [Media Matters, 3/6/26]
    • Trump said that his tariff agenda would bring American manufacturing “roaring back,” but according to the Center for American Progress, the manufacturing industry lost 89,000 jobs in the 10 months following Liberation Day and tariffs have made it more difficult to manufacture competitively, in part due to reliance on imported materials. [PBS, 3/20/26; Center for American Progress, 3/17/26]
    • Despite Trump’s aggressive  attempt to reduce the U.S. trade deficit using tariffs, the deficit dropped modestly from $904 billion in 2024 to $901 billion in 2025 and still clocked in as the third-highest on record. [The White House, 4/2/25; The Associated Press, 2/19/26]
    • Trump campaigned on the promise to lower the price of goods. Instead, his tariffs have exacerbated the affordability crisis. The Democrats on Congress’ Joint Economic Committee found in February that tariffs cost the average family about $1,700 between February 2025 and January 2026. Other economic groups estimated that Trump’s tariffs contributed to an annual average tax increase ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 per household. [BBC, 11/5/25; Joint Economic Committee, 2/26/26; Poynter, 2/26/26] 

  • The week Trump rolled out his tariff policy, right-wing media figures spouted praise for the president and declared that tariffs would lead to a new age of prosperity

    • Fox host Jesse Watters said the U.S. “can’t afford not to have tariffs.” Watters argued, “They say that we can't afford tariffs. We can't afford not to have tariffs. If you look at the last 40 years, the people making the bottom 50%, they've increased no wealth. The top 50%, top 10% have seen an absolute explosion in wealth. And what was the context there? No tariffs. Massive spending and open borders.” [Fox News, The Five, 4/2/25]
    • Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo: Trump’s tariffs are “brilliant.” She continued, “I would be buying this market with both hands.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 4/2/25]
    • Watters downplayed stock market declines, saying, “Tomorrow when you look at the Dow, it might not feel so liberating. But neither did the day after D-Day. Eventually, we won.” Watters also claimed, “Wall Street is going to be fine. And everyone's investments are going to be fine long term. This is an administration focused on main street, not Wall Street. The same people complaining about tariffs never complained once when the middle class got savaged by other countries.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 4/2/25]
    • Fox host Sean Hannity declared that Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs “will be remembered as a turning point and the start, I hope for every American, of a new golden age of American wealth and exceptionalism.” [Fox News, Hannity, 4/2/25]
    • Fox Business host Charles Payne: “Do not panic here — that’s my message to America.” Payne added, “I think the American public would be making a huge mistake to watch the stock market. … I would not worry at all.” [Fox News, Hannity, 4/2/25]
    • Fox Business host Larry Kudlow argued the tariffs plan “makes a lot of sense” because they may lead to more factories built in America, especially if “we get these tax cuts through as rapidly as possible.” Kudlow claimed the U.S. “has been on the short end of the stick, tariffs, nontariff barriers, currency depreciation, you name it.” He added, “Mr. Trump is placing significant tariffs, baseline tariffs, and reciprocal tariffs on nations who are most offensive to us, and if you make their goods more expensive at home, then hopefully Americans will buy America, produce America, build factories in America. That's the plan.” [Fox Business, Kudlow, 4/2/25] 
    • Fox News contributor Kellyanne Conway claimed Trump’s tariffs are “going to make America wealthier” and “give us more opportunities in the long term.” [Fox Business, Kudlow, 4/2/25] 
    • On Kudlow, Breitbart’s John Carney claimed that the revenue from tariffs is going to mean “you could go in and eliminate entire taxes” and that slashing capital gains taxes would offset “any possible drag from this.” Carney argued, “You could have capital gains taxes go to zero. That would create an investment boom in the United States, completely offsetting any possible drag from this.” [Fox Business, Kudlow, 4/2/25] 
    • Fox Business host Elizabeth MacDonald claimed Trump is trying to “reignite a manufacturing golden age” and end “a disastrous post-Cold War era.” MacDonald: “History shows President Trump's first term higher tariffs did not trigger inflation. The stock market boomed due to his pro-growth strategies.” [Fox Business, The Evening Edit, 4/2/25] 
    • Newsmax host Carl Higbie argued tariffs are “leveling the playing field” and making things more “fair.” Higbie: “You see how this works? American jobs being created because we want to make things more fair, and because we said we were going to make them more fair, places that weren't fair are now being fair by leveling the playing field.” [Newsmax, Carl Higbie Frontline, 4/2/25]
    • Conservative Political Action Conference Chairman Matt Schlapp admitted that “families are going to pay a little bit more in the short term,” adding that “hopefully in the long run, we're going to have a renaissance … a golden age.” Schlapp continued, “To the hard left, we can't overregulate and oversaturate our economy with foolishness like the Green New Deal and everything else if America wants to be competitive again.” [Newsmax, Carl Higbie Frontline, 4/2/25]
    • Hannity on Trump’s tariffs: “My level of confidence is pretty near 100% that this is all going to work out fine.” Hannity also said: “I am absolutely a thousand percent confident that things are going to work out in the end for everybody.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 4/3/25, 4/3/25]
    • Fox co-host Kayleigh McEnany praised Trump’s tariffs, saying they are “enormous, they're historic, they're going to reset the American economy.” McEnany added, “I would not be surprised if the great negotiator has an endgame in mind here.” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 4/3/25]
    • Fox host Will Cain: “We should see” Trump’s tariffs “as a potential restructuring of the American spirit, the purpose of America.” Cain suggested that work will set us free from a “a depression of purpose”: “Americans need a reason to get up and work has been our primary purpose, and work has been destroyed for middle class Americans.” [Fox News, The Will Cain Show, 4/3/25]
    • Watters on Trump’s tariffs: “It's an exciting time to be alive.” Watters continued: “We've rewired the entire world in a way we haven't seen in 100 years. And it's great. And hopefully, it works out. I haven't looked at my 401(k) today. I'm going to look at it tomorrow — actually, maybe not, I won't look at it for another month.” [Fox News, The Five, 4/3/25]
    • Fox host Laura Ingraham: “I personally know a lot of people who are buying into this market. That's how people always make money. The panicked sellers always regret it.” Ingraham added: “I'm waiting to see how things play out in the next 3 to 6 months. That'll tell us a lot more than one day.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 4/3/25]
    • On his radio show, Hannity urged listeners to wait out the “minor pain” caused by Trump’s tariffs. Hannity continued: “For whatever short-term, minor pain that may be inflicted on us, the long-term benefits are going to be massive.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 4/4/25]
    • Fox host Greg Gutfeld: Trump’s tariffs are “already a win. We are already getting results.” Watters added: “Vietnam called and they want to drop their duties down to zero.” [Fox News, The Five, 4/4/25]
    • Ingraham dismissed the stock market collapse over Trump’s tariffs: “You have to think beyond the short run.” During the segment, Ingraham aired a graphic advising viewers to “ignore the Dow doomsdayers.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 4/4/25]
    • Watters: “These tariffs are for the children.” Watters described Trump’s “vision” for his extreme tariffs as turning “the country into a place with thriving main streets and hometowns where American workers make American products sold to the American public. Doesn't that give you a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling inside?” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 4/4/25]