This is an occasional roundup of people who voted for Donald Trump and are shocked to find out no one is immune from the damage and pain he causes. Many are now grappling with the consequences of their choice as it affects them and their loved ones—and possibly regretting their vote.
It’s been a recurring theme in my writing that President Donald Trump’s actions don’t just harm the country and the world at large—they also strike his base with almost surgical precision. (See here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, among others).
In the 2024 presidential election, for the first time in recent history, exit polls found that voters making under $50,000 favored the Republican presidential ticket. Trump, ever faithful to Republican orthodoxy, is now repaying that support by gutting services and protections that disproportionately help rural Americans, seniors, and the working class—i.e., major demographics in the current Republican base.
Politico recently highlighted this dynamic, reporting:
Three months in, it’s become abundantly clear that it’s not just federal Washington-based programs and overseas aid that are feeling the wrath of Elon Musk and [the Department of Government Efficiency]. The cuts are hitting home in the reddest parts of the country.
Abrupt cuts at AmeriCorps this week have landed hard in deep red states with high poverty rates like West Virginia, Mississippi and Alabama, where national service programs have long-filled gaps in education, disaster response and job training.
Wealthier blue states, like California, New York, and Illinois, are better positioned to weather the storm Trump is creating. Poor, rural red states, on the other hand, are getting slammed, often over manufactured culture-war issues like transgender kids in sports. Misaligned priorities have consequences, especially when those priorities are built around worshiping a man so morally bankrupt that he once said on the campaign trail, “I don’t care about you, I just want your vote. I don’t care.”
Today, though, I want to focus on a different kind of Trump voter: the wealthy, connected kind. Meet the Keelers of Keeler Brass Company, a Michigan-based manufacturer of hardware for kitchens and bathrooms. Members of the Keeler family have been Trump donors since 2016, and Vanity Fair once described them as “the cream of the city’s business class.” And like all good Republicans, they’ve made their peace with their own environmental destruction.
Naturally, the Keelers were thrilled to support Trump for his supposed “pro-business” agenda. But now they seem to be discovering what many American corporations are learning the hard way: Trump’s economic policies are a wrecking ball. One of their company’s brands, Belwith Keeler, will soon raise its prices by 24%, starting on June 1, according to a company representative who confirmed the details of the price hike to me over the phone.
One Reddit user posted what appears to be a note the company sent to its partners about the price increase:
Upcoming price adjustment
Dear Valued Partner,
We appreciate your continued support of Belwith Products LLC.
Due to ongoing increases in import and material costs, we are writing to inform you of a necessary price adjustment, effective June 1, 2025. While we have worked diligently to absorb these cost pressures, this modest increase is essential to maintain the high product quality and service standards associated with the Belwith name. The 24% price increase will be effective June 1st, 2025.
“Modest increase”—ha. If they’re raising prices 24% after reportedly absorbing some of the costs, the damage from Trump’s tariffs must be even worse behind the scenes.
Keeler Brass isn’t alone. TestEquity, a distribution company, has compiled a tracker of tariff-related corporate announcements, and it makes for grim reading. Tool manufacturers, raw materials suppliers, logistics companies—they’re all raising prices. And all of it will eventually reach consumers, assuming the products can even be shipped into the country. Shipping itself is expected to crater soon.
“We have had to raise our prices in order to stay profitable,” said one worker at a “cooper and brass” company in Michigan—possibly Keeler Brass—in a Guardian report. “We’ve had a round of layoffs and firings, and we’re expecting more as the economy worsens.”
On the plus side, if a 24% price hike is considered “modest,” then surely Keeler Brass’ well-heeled owners—and the rest of America’s aristocracy—should have no problem with a modest 24% tax hike on the rich. Or a modest 24% wealth tax. Right? It’s all so modest.
In the real world, of course, all we can really do is take some brief satisfaction in watching Trump torch the wealth of his wealthiest supporters, and hope that laid-off workers and everyone else feeling the sting of inflation remember who brought this on them when it’s time to vote in the next election, and the one after that.
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