Are Americans Better or Worse Off Since January?

5Mind. The Meme Platform

The left wing and media rage hysterically from one President Donald Trump psychodrama to the next, while Trump trolls both on social media.

But all that is verbiage. What matters are the data and facts of Trump’s first nine months since Jan. 20, 2025, in comparison to either former President Joe Biden’s previous year or the averages of his four years in office.

Take the border. No one knows how many illegal aliens entered or stayed in the United States during Biden’s four years of open borders. What is clear is that he set a presidential record of more than 7 million illegal entrants.

The border under Trump is now tightly closed. Before his administration, it was common for 10,000 people to cross illegally in a single day. In just nine months, approximately 2 million illegal aliens have been deported or self-deported. The rate of border crossings is now the lowest it’s ever been since 1970.

How about energy? For Trump’s first nine months, gas prices have averaged $3.19 versus Biden’s 2024 average of $3.30 per gallon. Over Biden’s four years, gas averaged $3.46 per gallon.

During the Biden years, oil production averaged 12.3 million barrels per day, compared with 13.5 million barrels during Trump’s first nine months. Biden removed 200 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, leaving office with only 394 million barrels in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The reserve has already inched upward under Trump’s initial months to 406 million barrels. Releases have been canceled. Purchases of replacement oil have been scheduled.

Regarding the economy, Biden’s four years averaged 2.9 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth per annum.

Trump’s GDP rose by 3.8 percent in the second quarter, with final estimates for 2025 at about 3 percent.

Inflation under Trump so far averages about 3 percent. Under Biden’s tenure, inflation increased by 21.4 percent over four years, or on average by about 5.3 percent per year.

How about U.S. deterrence and defense?

Under Biden, the military fell short by approximately 15,000 recruits per year, crashing to a shortfall of 41,000 in 2023.

Following Trump’s election and throughout the first nine months of 2025, all branches of the military met or exceeded their recruitment goals.

The number of NATO nations meeting their promise to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense rose from 23 in 2024 to a likely total of 31 in 2025, with several pledging to spend as much as 5 percent.

Trump left office in 2021 with no major ongoing wars. His first administration had nearly bankrupted Iran, destroyed the ISIS terrorist group, decimated the Russian Wagner Group in Syria, and birthed the Abraham Accords.

Under Biden, the Middle East exploded into a four-front war against Israel.

Iran boasted that it was within months of developing nuclear weapons after the Biden administration lifted previous Trump sanctions and courted Tehran to return to the so-called Iran deal.

Over the past decade and a half, Russian President Vladimir Putin had only kept within his borders during Trump’s first term, invading neighboring countries during the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Biden.

In 2022, Putin attacked Kyiv during Biden’s second year in office, leading to a full-scale Ukrainian–Russian war that has incurred the greatest combat losses in Europe since World War II.

In August 2021, in one of the greatest military humiliations in U.S. history, Biden ordered the abrupt flight of all U.S. personnel from Kabul, Afghanistan. The skedaddle resulted in utter chaos, the deaths of 13 Marines, and the destruction of U.S. deterrence.

Thousands of U.S. contractors and employees were left behind and the administration abandoned billions of dollars of new weapons and military equipment to the Taliban.

In contrast, there is now a tentative calm across the Middle East. After Trump’s bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, the theocracy is not expected to be able to acquire a nuclear weapon for years.

Iran, the Hezbollah terrorist group, the Hamas terrorist group, and the Houthi terrorist group are decimated and increasingly impotent.

No wars broke out during Trump’s current year. Tentative Trump-inspired cease-fires helped stop violence between India and Pakistan, Cambodia and Thailand, Egypt and Ethiopia, Serbia and Kosovo, and Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Trump’s tariffs so far have not caused, as critics predicted, a recession or stock collapse. Instead, the stock market has reached all-time highs.

Trillions of dollars in promised foreign investments in the United States have set a record. And China, for the first time in 50 years, is facing a U.S.-led global pushback against its exploitative, mercantilist trade policies.

The left is outraged about many of Trump’s executive orders.

But the public largely supports destroying the cartels’ seaborne drug shipments bound for the United States. Polls show that majorities favor banning transgender males from female sports; ending diversity, equity, and inclusion racialist fixations; and enacting long overdue higher education reforms.

The daily news is about politicians’ f-bombs, government shutdowns, Trump’s social media trolling, and street violence. But the facts tell a different story of national recovery from the self-inflicted disasters of the recent past.

Victor Davis Hanson

Contact Your Elected Officials
Victor Davis Hanson
Victor Davis Hansonhttp://victorhanson.com/
Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a professor of Classics Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services.

Trump’s SCOTUS “Foreign Interests” Comment Explained

We've addressed claims Trump’s tariffs were illegal, but not his accusation that court members are influenced by foreign interests.

The Party Of Hate Is Unleashing Political Violence

Sec. Scott Bessent placed blame for violence against President Trump squarely on the Democrat Party who are “normalizing this violence. It’s got to stop.”

‘Radical Right’ Restore Britain: The Remigration Dream Machine?

There is nothing wrong with being white, male, or straight—you are not the problem. The issue lies in systems, not individuals, and flawed DEI policies.

Trump 2.0’s Grand Strategy Against China Is Slowly But Surely Coming Together

Casual observers think Trump acts without strategy, but Trump 2.0 is steadily executing a calculated plan aimed at countering China’s global rise.

From legacy to liability

"When the Washington Post cut a third of its shrinking staff, leaders called it 'strategic restructuring'—like calling an iceberg a 'necessary pivot.'!"

Democrats Lay Out Plans to Ride Affordability to ‘Big Blue Wave’ in Midterms

House Democrats opened their 2026 issues conference on Feb. 25 with a unified pitch to voters: The party that lowers costs wins in November.

15 States Sue RFK Jr. Over Changes to Vaccine Schedule

California and 14 other states sued federal health agencies and Health Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the recently revised childhood vaccine schedule.

Larry Summers Resigns From Harvard in Epstein File Fallout

Former Harvard University president Larry Summers will step down amid fallout over ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

FBI Raids Home, Office of Los Angeles Schools Superintendent

The FBI served a court-authorized warrant at the home and district office of Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.

10 Memorable Moments From Trump’s State of the Union Address

President Trump delivered the longest SOYU address in recorded U.S. history, punctuating it with emotional moments and real-life stories to illustrate policy.

Trump Proposes New Retirement Account for US Workers Without 401(k) Access

During his State of the Union, President Trump proposed a new retirement program giving Americans without 401(k)s access to savings accounts.

Trump Hails ‘Turnaround for the Ages’ in State of the Union

President Trump delivers first second-term State of the Union, touting economic gains and saying his America First agenda is working for Americans.

Trump to Announce New Policies in State of the Union Address, White House Says

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Trump’s first second-term State of the Union will feature new policy announcements.
spot_img

Related Articles

Popular Categories

MAGA Business Central