The New Gilded Age of Decline: Tariffs, Tumbling GDP, and the Disappearing Job Market

Trump’s economic chaos is being delivered by UPS, with 20,000 pink slips and counting

The Trump administration is fond of making bold claims about a “New Golden Age.” But from the factory floor to the loading dock, it’s beginning to look a lot more like a new Gilded Age, where wealth is hoarded at the top, economic pain is outsourced downward, and the illusion of prosperity is propped up by spin and scapegoats.

This week’s grim GDP numbers, a -0.3% contraction in the first quarter, marked the worst performance since the pandemic era. But the economic hemorrhaging isn’t limited to spreadsheets. On the ground, UPS is slashing 20,000 jobs, citing a massive drop in package volumes and a contracting economy. It’s no coincidence.

UPS is a barometer. When people are buying less, retailers are importing less, and supply chains are seizing up, delivery companies feel it first. What we’re watching is the real-world fallout from Trump’s tariff blitz, which has sent importers into a panic-buying frenzy and then an abrupt halt. Goods are stuck in warehouses or sitting on ships. Small businesses can’t afford to restock. Consumers are spending cautiously, watching prices climb. And the workers who move the goods? They’re the first to go.

From the shrinking consumer spending in Q1 (down to 1.8%) to the 41% surge in imports as companies raced to beat Trump’s tariffs, it’s all part of the same unraveling. And while Trump tries to pin the blame on the “Biden Overhang,” his fingerprints are on every economic lever that’s now misfiring. Despite promises of massive budget cuts, federal spending increased by over 6% in the first quarter, much of it driven by chaotic restructuring costs under DOGE. Meanwhile, Trump’s tariff policy has fueled inflation, with core PCE rising to 3.5%. And now, his erratic trade wars are triggering real-world consequences: UPS is slashing 20,000 jobs and closing more than 70 facilities, citing a collapse in Amazon shipments and tariff-related uncertainty.

Even the so-called “good news” in this GDP report, business investment and inventory stockpiling, was a sign of fear, not confidence. UPS cutting jobs while inventories swell is the perfect contradiction: shelves may be full, but demand is thin, and no one’s shipping anything.

And the spin? It’s reaching surreal levels. Peter Navarro called this the “best negative GDP print” he’s ever seen. Trump says “BE PATIENT,” promising that a boom is just around the corner. Meanwhile, American workers are staring down layoffs, pay cuts, and rising prices. If this is the prelude to a boom, someone forgot to tell the people in the warehouse, the check-out aisle, and the unemployment line.

Make no mistake: this is what economic nationalism without a coherent strategy looks like. Tariffs are a tax. Job cuts are a lagging indicator. And Trump’s “New Golden Age” is delivering more hardship than hope. If UPS, a backbone of American e-commerce, has to shed 20,000 workers, then this isn’t a soft landing. It’s a warning shot.

And the message is clear: you can’t tariff your way to prosperity. You can only outsource the pain and now it’s arriving on your doorstep.

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