Buyers Regret?
There have been a number of stories about the ways Trump has hurt the people who supported him in November 2024 and his declining approval among two groups who moved toward him in the last election –Hispanics and young men. He does not seem to have suffered much erosion in rural populations generally despite his policies which have hurt farmers and threaten rural health care. One report suggested that several rural states have seen their economic growth plummet including Montana and Nebraska.
Recent reports on tourism in Las Vegas, suggest that the voters who enabled him to narrowly win Nevada may soon be souring on him as well. Numbers from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority indicate that tourism in June was down 400,000 visitors from June 2024 with similar declines in passengers at Harry Reid International Airport and in traffic on Interstate 15 between California and Nevada. One of the principal causes for the fall in tourism is the drop in Canadian tourists after Trump demeaned their sovereignty and declared economic war with his tariff policy.
In May the World Travel and Tourism Council warned that the United States stood to lose $12 billion in international visitor spending because Trump had made visiting the United States so unattractive. Twelve billion may not seem like much in an economy the size of the United States, but that $12 billion is highly concentrated in several places including Las Vegas.
Other factors affecting tourism in Las Vegas include general economic uncertainty depressing domestic travel to Las Vegas–which has become an expensive venue even if you do not gamble. The biggest domestic market, Southern California, is down not only because of economic uncertainty, but also concerns about immigration raids. That concern also affects the labor force in Las Vegas.
One of the campaign promises made by both major candidates was to eliminate the income tax on tips. Both candidates made that promise in an effort to garner Nevada’s 6 electoral votes and it is a promise that Trump has at least partially kept. The irony is that with the fall off in tourism, there is also a fall off in tips. This is the same irony that will be facing all those high income individuals and corporations who love the GOP making their tax cuts permanent. Paying 5% less taxes per million of income is less favorable if fewer millions are made.
The question I keep coming back to is who besides Trump is benefitting from his administration’s policies?
Terry:
The very people who flocked to Tr__p due to his noise are the ones who are suffering the most front his actions. Wasn’t one Tr__p administration enough to learn he is incompetent and can be led. He is easily the worst president the US has had.
Who is benefiting from Tr__p policies? The upper 3% will reap the benefit of programs which favor them.
The lower incomes will receive little or nothing. Medicaid will be cut.
“who besides Trump is benefitting”?
His grifting kids.
On NPR Boston an article noted that Cape Cod is massively suffering from lack of Canadian tourists.
With a story out today about Canadians getting caught up in ICE actions, down to the age of 2 yrs old, it ain’t going to get better.
Not all benefits are material. MAGA supporters get a psychological and intangible thrill at seeing their enemies suffer, their prejudices and resentments made national policies, and the Trump’s reaffirmation of the ideology that being “White” (born English speaker with Christian identity) is what is meant by American and so if you have the right skin color you have a the high Caste status.