Is America in the crisis that Trump claims it is in?

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Most of the economic improvement is just spin..

But this transformation in perceptions is out of step with the underlying reality. The basic truth is that while the economy displayed steady growth over the past 12 months, the same was true of the 72 months or so that came before that. The big change hasn’t been in the economy but in people’s hearts — Republican Party loyalists, in particular, weren’t ready to admit the economy had recovered until they had a co-partisan in the White House. The partially partisan economy Two polls from Gallup tell the tale. The first, comparing annual averages, shows that Democrats and Republicans have reacted very differently to Trump’s ascent, with Republicans becoming more positive about the economy and Democrats less so.

The truth about the Trump economy, explained - Vox

In fact, by the standards Trump used to trash the Obama era in his speech to Congress, the Trump era has been another economic nightmare. “Ninety-four million Americans are out of the labor force!” he complained last year. That was true at the time, if you included students, retirees and the disabled, but today, 95.5 million Americans are out of the labor force. “Over 43 million Americans are on food stamps,” Trump said last year. This year, it’s still over 42 million. “Our trade deficit in goods last year was nearly $800 billion!” Trump marveled. Under Trump, the trade deficit is increasing.

Of course, the Trump economy is not a nightmare at all; it’s fine, just like the Obama economy was fine. All that’s changed is the spin. Crime was historically low last year when Trump was denouncing the “lawless chaos” that had overrun America, and it will still be low on Tuesday night if he declares victory over the chaos. America wasn’t a nightmare before Trump, but claiming it was helped get Trump elected, and now he’ll get to take credit for the non-nightmarish state of the union. Then again, Trump didn’t just promise to end Obama’s dystopia. He promised to transform it into a new utopia, so that “our children will grow up in a nation of miracles.”

Trump Plus One: Did He Keep His Promises? - POLITICO Magazine