In Trump's shoes: How cost of living fuels fury among relentless voters

The honeymoon for President Donald Trump, the second US president to serve two non-consecutive terms, ended in great disarray as the Democratic Party took control of both chambers of Congress in the mid-terms in stunning version on Wednesday, with the last two years of Trump’s presidency likely to be a horrible nightmare for him and for Republicans.

Gaining 7 seats in the Senate for a total of 54, well above the 50 needed to acquire a majority, and securing an extra 25 for a total of 228, comfortably above the 218-seat mark that sets a majority in the 435-member chamber, the Democrats will have the capacity to frustrate Trump’s policies which have often gone unchallenged, in what many feel is a breath of fresh air in US politic.

For Trump, it has been a long time coming. Controversies that carried on from his first term, which he won backed by the electoral college votes after losing the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2017, were always going to catch up with him. It was during that term that Covid-19 battered economies and that Trump, perhaps in jest, made catastrophic remarks regarding the handling of the pandemic, with many believing he was responsible for slow adjustment to what was widely referred to, at the time, as a “new reality”.

A growing disillusionment among the youth in the US and a wider global Gen Z movement are part of the issues challenging the political standing of the Donald Trump administration.  

And as it is with President William Ruto’s government in Kenya, Trump has been facing protests with Americans complaining of high food and fuel prices and generally high cost of living.

Issues to do with tariffs, immigration policies and Iran war have forced a voter wrath these being issues bedeviling Ruto’s regime back here at home. 

As Kenya approaches its general elections, civil society groups, the Law Society of Kenya, and political figures have raised alarms over several domestic challenges.

Among the issues Ruto’s government is facing includes high inflation, a heavy national debt burden, and public frustration over tax hikes, issues which have continued to fuel anti-government sentiment and protests against Ruto’s administration.

According to surveys by research firms like TIFA, about 75 percent of Kenyans report that their personal or family economic situation has worsened since 2022 due to the high cost of living.

Ruto’s government has faced public outcry over reports by civil society and human rights organizations point to rising political tensions, police violence against protesters, forced disappearances, and a risk of election-related violence.

Watchdogs have raised concern over politicians hiring armed gangs to disrupt rival rallies and intimidate opponents ahead of the 2027 vote.

In the recent past, there has been a storm over the enforcement of the Campaign Finance Act, transparency and live-streaming of polling station results as well as expanding voting access for the Kenyan diaspora.

Still, Trump’s new predicament could tilt some of President Ruto’s gains. Trump’s government has been a major funder of Kenya’s health sector through programs like PEPFAR, malaria, and tuberculosis initiatives and a Democrats majority in the House might review, challenge, or alter executive decisions on foreign aid and USAID cutbacks, impacting clinics and medical access in Kenya.

 Trump came back into office with sweeping changes to the way things were done, including through the slashing of funding for many humanitarian causes and the closure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), imposition of stringent tariffs for trade partners across the globe, and a double-down on his anti-immigration rhetoric and border closures.

According to Gallup, Donald Trump's Job Approval Ratings for December 2025 was 36 per cent, tanking from 47 per cent in January 2025.

Among the issues picked by the pollsters as being most disconcerting for voters were a high cost of living that many felt the government was not keen to address, and interference with other nations while matters at home needed quick salvaging. Only last year, the US invaded Caracas and took hostage Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro, extraditing him to the US where he remains. The US then imposed a new president in the country.

As the US expressed its might elsewhere, gas prices rose, groceries got more expensive, with some prices even increasing fourfold in the year to September 2026, on the back of higher energy prices. Around 80 per cent of the voters were disgruntled with this cost of living, and especially by the government’s culpability in it.

The decision by the government to back Israel in the war against Iran, many believed, had been the genesis of many such crises. It was an unnecessary war for the US to be involved in, and it was costly to the taxpayer. Beside the bragging rights of potentially subduing a Middle East country, there was nothing much to gain from it and when Tehran decided in a retaliatory measure to close the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for the passage of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, industries, as well as households, felt the pinch.

Back at home, the mandatory 1.5 percent deduction from salaried worker’s gross pay to fund the government's Affordable Housing Program, reducing net take-home pay during a high inflation period has been one of the major measures that have made Ruto’s regime loose favour with most if its supporters.

The education sector has been instable with issues like reduced high school capitation; where funding per student was scaled back compared to previous levels under the Uhuru Kenyatta administration. The funding model for universities has also shifted, leading to steep fee adjustments and financial strain for higher education students and families.

Kenya sees the US as a key trading partner, with its erratic dalliance with the East often viewed as likely to cause friction between it and a country that considers it a key diplomatic ally in Africa. With the discontinuation of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) already affecting many foreign-funded activities in Kenya and rendering many jobless, other executive decisions, made as a chest-thumping effort by Trump, could be catastrophic for Kenya.

Kenya is also regarded as a key ally in regional security, and as a valuable proponent in the fight against terrorism and stabilisation operations in East Africa, particularly because of the perennial terrorism situation in Somalia.

As Congress is decisive in approving the federal budget and overseeing resources allocated to international aid, recipients of such monies could find themselves in an unfortunate gridlock. Ahead of Kenya’s 2027 elections, which are closely monitored by the US, priorities for the US could flip and support for candidates could suddenly change.

Nairobi Senator and Presidential hopeful Edwin Sifuna says it is a good moment for the US, subtly comparing it with a scenario where the opposition takes over presidency in Kenya in 2027. On X, he wrote, following the US in the midterms:

“It feels very nice to see good people winning elections. Watu roho safi tu who actually care about ordinary citizens. Bad people have been winning too much bwana. What a night for the Democratic Party in the US midterms. Blue wave, sindio?”

The Financial Times called the midterms a “stunning rebuke to Donald Trump,” and after the elections, a battered Trump said: “Congratulations to the Democrats. They did a good job. They’ve been looking for this one for 11 years, and they finally got it. But I don’t view it as a hit on me. I think we’ve done ... We’ve had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency.”

The next two years could be a departure from the first two. How that would likely pan out, no one can truly predict.