President Donald Trump promised to run America like a business, but some of his most loyal followers are asking for a refund. Meet Jessie and Carter Meadows, a Georgia husband and wife who once wore red hats with pride, and who now confess that the second term they hoped would supercharge their small businesses has instead narrowed their margins and their patience.
In a profile by The Washington Post which has got voters talking across conservative Facebook groups, the Meadows explain how tariff shock, broken promises, and a bruising fight over the Epstein files turned admiration into irritation, which led to a clean break from Trump and his MAGA movement.
Jessie runs a floral shop where imported faux berries are a staple, and those costs have spiked under Trump’s sweeping import levies, she says. Carter, who runs a funeral home, is staring at higher supplier prices and a likely price increase to what grieving families pay. He calls the tariffs “unplanned and childish,” the kind of boardroom stunt that plays well on cable, but hits hard on the wallets of some of his supporters. Their story mirrors a shift in public opinion as early year surveys showed Americans nearly split on tariffs; now, majorities say the levies are driving prices up, not down.
Trump courted the MAGA base with promises to slash energy costs and revive American manufacturing, and he also dangled a culture war trophy, full disclosure of the Epstein files. The White House has stumbled on both gasoline and electricity, which have not fallen as fast as voters expected, factories are not back as promised in campaign clips, and a fight over the Epstein docs has turned ugly inside Trump world. When GOP Rep. Thomas Massie pushed a vote to force disclosure, the Meadows cheered, then watched as Trump torched skeptics on Truth Social, including some of his own influencers. Carter told The Washington Post that it was when the shame set in and Jessie concluded the movement, not the man, is what she backs now.
Fox News polling across the spring and summer showed steady doubts about Trump’s economic progress, with inflation and tariffs eclipsing border and crime as the top reasons detractors give for disapproving of his performance. Reuters found nearly three in four Americans expect prices to rise because of the tariff regime, a brutal number for a president who sells himself as a master negotiator. The upshot is that a growing chunk of voters believe the short-term pain is not paving the way for long-term gain.
The Meadows are not joining the Resistance; they are recalibrating. Jessie contacted her Republican congressman to back releasing the Epstein files, but Carter is weighing a price increase he never wanted to make. Around the kitchen table, they ask the question millions of small business owners ask when a supplier breaks a promise: Is there anyone who will do what they said they would do? Their answer may foreshadow a wider realignment inside MAGA, a world where the brand outlives the founder, and where disappointment over tariffs and kitchen table economics outweighs the thrill of viral rally crowds.
If Trump bets that voters will endure today’s higher prices for tomorrow’s payoff, the Meadows are the cautionary tale. They still like the idea of America run like a business; they just want a leader who will bring the teleprompter promises into an economic reality.
