During the 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump used his own variation of Democratic strategist James Carville's famous 1992 line, "It's the economy, stupid." Trump hammered then-President Joe Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris relentlessly on the economy — namely, inflation. And Trump's allies repeatedly claimed that while Democrats were obsessing over pronouns, he was worried about affordability.

It was a close election, but Trump's messaging on the economy helped him get past the finish line and win the popular vote by roughly 1.5 percent. But now, seven months into Trump's second presidency, some Republicans are, according to Wired, expressing their fears about the U.S. economy and the 2026 midterms behind closed doors.

In an article published on August 20, Wired's Jake Lahut reports that publicly, members of the Trump Administration are saying "no panicans" — meaning, stay the course, and don't panic over economic news. But privately, Lahut stresses, GOP insiders are worried.

"The (Trump) Administration's areas of focus — deporting immigrants whose labor powers key sectors like agriculture and construction, levying tariffs, and cutting social services among them — have done more than simply increase uncertainty," Lahut explains. "Hiring and tourism have already slowed dramatically in major U.S. cities from Las Vegas to New York in the first half of the year, and Trump has put almost all the ingredients in place for slow growth amid high unemployment and inflation, the potent combination known as stagflation. Behind the scenes, as more tariffs begin to kick in and punted deadlines approach — particularly a tariff hike on Chinese goods, now set to jump from 30 percent to 80 percent by November 10 — some Republicans in Trumpworld's orbit are bracing for impact."

According to Lahut, GOP insiders interviewed by Wired are "growing a little bit anxious about where the economy is heading."

Trump's tariffs, Lahut notes, "could be a ticking timebomb" for Republicans if prices soar and voters blame Republicans.

A GOP strategist, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told Wired, "I'm probably surprised that there has not been more concern. I think the reality is that we’re at that sort of inflection point, where retailers were reluctant to raise prices because they feared retaliation from the (Trump) Administration. Now, the reality is setting in that these are not transitory. There are going to be economic consequences."

Another GOP strategist, also quoted anonymously, told Wired, "If this experiment fails, it’s gonna fail horribly, and I think we’ll begin to see the impacts of that sooner than later."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet