MediaLab@FAU Staff
Mar 21, 2025
South Florida voters who once believed in the potential of a bigger, better economy under a second Trump administration are having a bit of buyer’s remorse, alongside many other Americans who are wondering if the promises that sounded snappy on the campaign trail make for sound economic policy.
With the stock market skidding into correction territory – meaning prices of shares have lost more than 10% of their value – and $5 trillion in wealth wiped out over the course of three weeks, many people who were enthusiastic about Trump’s ability to grow the economy are struggling to make sense of one policy in particular: that word that the president said was the most beautiful in the dictionary.
Tariffs are deeply unpopular, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Some 70% of those polled – including nine in 10 Democrats and six in 10 Republicans – said they expected higher tariffs will make groceries and other consumer goods more expensive, Reuters reported. A different new poll released last week showed consumer confidence plummeting 11% in March.
It isn’t difficult to find people who wonder how low it will go and what to prepare for.
“I'm not a big fan of his [Trump’s] persona but I did vote for him because I thought that he was a better choice and the lesser of two evils. With his tariffs, it’s too early to tell but I think some of them are ridiculous,” said Mitch Greenberg, a Boca Raton realtor doing some shopping on a recent morning.
“His take on Canada being the 51st state and placing the tariffs there,” Greenberg said, made little sense and was only rattling markets and consumer confidence. But he said he tries to avoid checking on his investments constantly so as to not get panicky. “I've always noticed that there are peaks and valleys in the market so I don’t get too nervous during these types of times when everyone else is kind of talking about it going ‘oh my God.’”
Jeff Mikutis, a physician, said that Trump’s decisions to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico, America’s closest neighbors and major trading partners, seems less than well thought-out.
“The tariffs seem like they are arbitrary,” Mikutis said, noticing the rocky decline each day. “All we’re seeing – and what the graphs show – is losses in the stock market after tariffs were needlessly imposed.”
Ali Williams, a psychologist and mother of two elementary school students who resides in Boca Raton, explained that the stock market tumble has made her more aware of how she spends her money. She assumes it will influence others to do the same, despite some formulating their opinions solely along partisan lines.
“I think [this] just makes you more considerate of what you spend and how you’re spending. But I also think people are looking at this in isolation,” said Williams. “With every new president, we go through this…the only difference now is people either love them or hate them.”
Other local shoppers approached for comment – many of whom shied away from giving their full names – said that they still believed in Trump and that he just needed more time. Kimberly, a New York transplant, said she believed Trump’s economic policies were solid and would make sense in the fullness of time. Tom, a retiree who lives in Deerfield Beach, said he wasn’t terribly worried. “My assets are in control with someone who knows what to do with them,” he said.
Younger investors with more time to take risks seem less worried. Joey Gelberg, an FAU student, said he invests in ADMA Biologics, a company his father works with, as well as Tesla and Amazon. Gelberg said he isn’t fearful at all of the stock market slump, and that on the contrary, it’s a great time to go bargain-hunting.
“In fact, I would encourage people to buy now,” he said. “I don’t think we're going to crash. I don’t think we're going to go into a recession-level thing. The worst thing I’m scared of is stagflation.”
That’s a dreaded scenario in which inflation rises as economic growth slows. And after Federal Reserve officials presented a far less optimistic economic outlook on Wednesday in comparison to what they predicted in December, that is looking increasingly likely. Meanwhile, Trump is promising to double tariffs on Canada on April 2.
“The prices of everything are increasing,” said Sarah, an inventory manager at Nordstrom Rack. “Everyone’s kind of struggling right now so unless you come from generational wealth, you're going to be struggling.”
MediaLab@FAU writers Haley Dockendorff, Kim Casey, Lys Hayes, Ava Hilton, and Laurie Mermet contributed to this story.