Washington, D.C. — Today, President Donald Trump will headline an event at the Target Center in Minneapolis. In previous visits to Minnesota, Trump promised working families that his administration would raise wages, improve health care, and bring back jobs from overseas. In reality, the Trump administration has failed to deliver on these promises—siding with corporations and insurance companies to end protections for people with preexisting conditions and signing into law a tax bill that largely benefited wealthy earners and rewarded companies for moving jobs overseas.
Learn more about President Trump’s top broken promises to Minnesota families here.
Health care
Promise: “You’re going to get great healthcare … at a much lower price than you’ve been paying.” – Donald Trump in Duluth, Minnesota, June 20, 2018
Reality: The Trump administration launched an all-out attack on Americans’ health care by trying to repeal and sabotage the Affordable Care Act.
- 2.3 million Minnesotans with preexisting conditions will lose protections under ACA repeal.
- 265,000 Minnesotans will lose their health coverage under ACA repeal.
- $1,840 is the annual premium increase for the average Minnesota family if the ACA is repealed.
Profits and wages
Promise: “We’re bringing back our jobs from other countries. We’re bringing back our companies from other countries.” – Donald Trump in Duluth, Minnesota, June 20, 2018
Reality: The Trump administration’s economic policies are delivering huge giveaways to the wealthy at the expense of Minnesotan families. The Trump administration blocked a federal minimum wage increase for Minnesota workers, which has cost working families.
- 430,000 Minnesota workers were denied a pay increase.
- Minnesota workers lost $734 million in wages.
Farmers
Promise: “We’ve removed unfair trade barriers for our proud Minnesota farmers and our dairy producers like has never, ever been done before in our country.” – Donald Trump in Rochester, Minnesota, October 4, 2018
Reality: Trump promised to fight for family farms in Minnesota, but instead, his administration has sided with big corporate agribusiness while small farmers pay the price for his reckless policies.
- Minnesota dairy farms are in crisis after the Trump administration removed access to vital markets as a part of his erratic trade policies.
- Net farm income has fallen by nearly 50 percent since 2013, as the Trump administration’s erratic trade policies continue to exacerbate farmers’ economic pain.
- Small farmers are struggling under the Trump administration. The median income at a dairy farm in Minnesota dropped by nearly two-thirds in 2018—from $43,000 to less than $15,000. And 1 in 10 Minnesota dairy farmers ceased operations.
- According to the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, the number of farms declaring bankruptcy in the upper Midwest—including Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana—in 2018 was more than double the number that it was just four years ago.
- In 2014, there were eight farm bankruptcies in Minnesota. In 2018, there were 20.
Taxes
Promise: “We want to lower your taxes. … We’re for low taxes and no crime.” – Donald Trump in Rochester, Minnesota, October 4, 2018
Reality: Most of the Trump administration’s $2 trillion tax cut goes to corporations and the rich. Many Minnesota families are getting stuck with the bill.
- The average tax cut for the wealthiest 1 percent of Minnesotans is $42,700, while the bottom 80 percent of Minnesotans saw just a fraction of that.
- In fact, 178,330 Minnesota families paid more in taxes this year due to the 2017 tax bill.
Dreamers
Promise: “We’re going to work something out that’s going to make people happy and proud. … [Dreamers] got brought here at a very young age, they’ve worked here, they’ve gone to school here. Some were good students. Some have wonderful jobs.” – Donald Trump, November 28, 2016
Reality: Trump assured Dreamers they should rest easy and that he was not interested in targeting them for deportation. But less than a year after taking office, he ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program. By taking away these protections, Trump put the futures of 800,000 people who arrived in the United States as children in jeopardy, along with their ability to work and contribute to their state economies.
- There are 17,500 eligible Dreamers in Minnesota, and 60,000 Minnesotans live in a household with at least one Dreamer.
- The average Dreamer in Minnesota arrived when they were 8 years old.
- Minnesota Dreamers are crucial to the state’s economy. They pay more than $126 million in federal taxes; more than $74 million in state and local taxes; and spend $570 million on goods and services—all of which boosts the economy.
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, please contact Freedom Alexander Murphy at [email protected] or 202-796-9712.