While the president touts America’s “golden age” and “roaring economy,” here are a few facts:
The official American death toll in the five-month Iran war now sits at 18. More than 400 have been wounded. A Harvard Kennedy School senior public policy lecturer and a federal budget expert says upfront spending for the war with Iran is likely to total $200 billion. The administration’s current figure is $38 billion.
In 2025, 33 people died while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. There have been 21 deaths in the first half of this year. Eight people, including three U.S. citizens, have been killed in 2026 by ICE agents in the president’s deportation crackdown.
More than 205 people have been killed in 59 Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific boat strikes since early September. The White House has not provided any evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs.
The debt crisis that the Republican-led Congress has been ignoring could cost the average U.S. household $18,000 a year, according to a Brookings analysis.
Cases of life-threatening diseases are on the rise around the country as vaccination rates continue to decline. Measles cases have surpassed a 35-year high.
If this is a golden age, we might be better off settling for silver.
