House

Jeffries: ‘What Donald Trump has done is decimate the bank accounts of the American people’

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by Fiona Bork - 04/03/26 12:57 PM ET

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by Fiona Bork - 04/03/26 12:57 PM ET

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) blasted President Trump at a Democratic National Committee (DNC) briefing, saying his policies have hurt Americans’ wallets and livelihoods.

“Donald Trump has not managed to liberate the economy,” Jeffries said. “What Donald Trump has done is decimate the bank accounts of the American people.”

Democratic lawmakers and DNC leaders held a press briefing Thursday to criticize the first anniversary of “Liberation Day,” when the president first announced sweeping tariffs across the world.

Jeffries on Thursday also criticized Trump’s current military campaign in Iran, arguing that the war has increased costs for Americans mostly through higher gas prices.

He added that Trump’s tariff regime, which has come under bipartisan fire, also increased costs for Americans. A January study from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy found that Americans paid for almost all of the costs incurred by the tariffs.

The Supreme Court ruled the tariffs, which Trump implemented under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), were unlawful in February. But the president has already made other moves to continue imposing tariffs.

“Donald Trump promised that costs would go down on Day 1, but, of course, in the United States of America, during the Trump presidency, costs haven’t gone down, costs have gone up,” Jeffries said. “And we can thank the Trump tariffs for imposing thousands of dollars in additional costs on everyday Americans, small-business owners and farmers throughout the country.”

“Donald Trump’s policies have been a disaster, and Republicans have failed the American people, particularly on the economy,” he added.

Jeffries said a string of recent Democratic election wins points to Americans’ disappointment over the administration’s actions over the past year. Taylor Rehmet, a Democrat, flipped a red Texas state Senate seat in a January special election. Democrat Chasity Martinez defeated her GOP opponent in February, securing a Louisiana state House seat. Most recently, Democrat Emily Gregory won a state House seat last month in the Florida district containing Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

“The American people are rejecting Republican extremism and embracing the fact that Democrats are authentically making clear that we’re going to work as hard as we can to make life better for the American people, to lower the high cost of living, to fix our broken health care system, to get ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] under control and to end this reckless war of choice in Iran,” Jeffries said.

Jeffries said if Democrats retake control of the House next year, one of the main priorities would be to ensure Americans are reimbursed for any tariff costs they endured. When the Supreme Court justices struck down Trump’s IEEPA tariffs, they did not lay out a plan for doling out rebates, and refunds are largely still up in the air.

“We’re going to work as hard as we can on Day 1 to reverse the damage that Donald Trump and Republican extremists have done to America,” he said.

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