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Chapter 1: Why are Democrats threatening a government shutdown?
Well, folks, as always, there's a lot happening in the news. The Democrats are now threatening a government shutdown. No one really knows why. Pete Buttigieg apparently wants to run for president. A lot happening. But you don't just watch The Daily Wire. You are The Daily Wire. Put your money where your values are. Join All Access.
Get everything, every article, every show, every documentary, every film 100% uncensored and ad-free. That's not all. As an All Access member, you're not just watching, you become part of the conversation. You can live chat with me,
and all the other Daily Wire hosts during our weekly exclusive all-access live events, debate with our writers, connect with the community that actually thinks for itself. Join now at dailywire.com slash subscribe. Okay, so you thought Democrats couldn't possibly get any dumber, and yet somehow they have managed to achieve this signal feat.
The reason I say this is because right now, President Trump is having some trouble when it comes to the economy, obviously. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is off significantly since he took office. There's a lot of concern about the possibility of recession in the near future in the United States, despite some pretty strong economic fundamentals.
And in the polling data, President Trump is actually moving the wrong way on the economy. According to a brand new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, the question is, how have Donald Trump's policies affected U.S. economic conditions? 51% say worsened conditions. 28% say improved conditions. 21% said have no effect. So that is not a great number for President Trump. 51%, again, say worsened conditions.
21% say have no effect. Well, if things start to get worse, that 21% is going to cave into the 51%. You're going to end up with three quarters of Americans who are going to blame President Trump if the economy goes south in all likelihood. Only 44% of Americans currently approve of how President Trump is handling the economy, inflation. In terms of helping the middle class, 43% approve.
Only 39% approve of President Trump's tariffs. And in terms of helping the middle class, only 43% approve. These are bad numbers for President Trump in this polling. Now, again, that doesn't mean that if the economy picks up or continues to truck along, that President Trump can't heal all of that.
It just means that because of all the volatility that's been injected into the economy, because of all the talk about tariffs, which, again, I don't really see the purpose of. I want President Trump to succeed in effectuating his agenda. And if that agenda gets thwarted by Democrats, an economic downturn, that would be a very large scale mistake.
Well, that's an opening for Democrats, a clear and obvious opening for Democrats. And yet Democrats are not only not going to take advantage of the opening, they're going to shoot themselves directly in the head, which I got to say. I, as a Republican, approve. I'm just not sure what you are doing.
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Chapter 2: What are the implications of current economic indicators for Trump?
Okay, so again, he was having a good time over at the White House. However, he then got into commentary on tariffs. I was at the gym yesterday watching President Trump talk about tariffs. And I watched in real time as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped as he talked. When he talks about tariffs and he discusses trade barriers, the markets start to freak out.
Because at the very least, it means more volatility. We don't know what's happening next. I'm not saying this because I wish to criticize President Trump. I'm saying this because I wish President Trump to succeed. If you look at the chart of President Trump's first term, what you see is the Dow Jones Industrial Average on a straight arithmetic increase line up, up and to the right.
And so far in his term, the line has been down. And that is not exactly what you are looking for. Well, President Trump is upping the ante by now saying that he wants to increase tariffs on the EU. Now, again, if the goal of all of this is to get the EU to lower its own tariffs against the United States, I'm for it.
If the goal is to leverage some other deliverable from other countries, if the goal is to protect national security, I'm for it. If this is just because tariffs are fun and games or because President Trump has been talked into the idea that trade wars are both good and easy to win, that is not good economic policy. It just isn't. Right now, inflation is cooling, actually. That is good news.
It should be good news for the Trump administration. According to the Wall Street Journal, inflation actually cooled last month. Consumer prices were up 2.8% in February from a year earlier. Now, again, remember, that is still an increase in inflation. You're looking generally for a 2% year-on-year increase.
It is a decrease in the rate of inflation, but it is actually an increase in the actual inflation of the cost. There was a January gain of 3%, so it's moving in sort of the right direction. Prices excluding food and energy rose 3.1%. That was the lowest year-over-year reading since 2021, and it was lower than 3.2% expected by economists.
But all of the sort of uncertainty that is being injected into the process by President Trump is not helping matters. And tax cuts, deregulation, consistent policy, these are the things that make for a strong, healthy, and growing economy. And yet this morning, President Trump threatened a 200% tariff on alcohol from the EU.
He said the EU, this is on Truth Social, one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the world, which was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States, has just put a nasty 50% tariff on whiskey. That, of course, was a retaliatory tariff put in place by the Europeans after the United States put tariffs on other European products.
If this tariff is not removed immediately, the US will shortly place a 200% tariff on all wines, champagnes, and alcoholic products coming out of France and other EU-represented countries. This will be great for the wine and champagne businesses in the United States.
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