Amid rising global tensions, the Trump administration is touting a major domestic win: historic wage growth for blue-collar workers. According to a Tuesday statement from the White House, real wages for hourly, non-supervisory workers have risen nearly two percent in the first five months of Trump’s second term—marking the biggest early-term wage increase for blue-collar workers in nearly 60 years.

Record Gains for Working Americans

The White House announcement emphasized that these gains dwarf the economic performance seen under President Biden. While Biden’s first five months saw real wages decline by 1.7%—thanks to inflation outpacing earnings—Trump has reversed that trend with decisive economic policies aimed at boosting American labor.

“Since Richard Nixon in 1969, Trump has been the only president to record positive growth for blue-collar workers in his first five months,” noted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a New York Post interview. “He also achieved 1.3% in his first term. What we’re seeing now is the strongest growth ever.”

Bessent appeared on the podcast Pod Force One, scheduled to release Wednesday, and explained how the administration has pulled this off. “We’ve seen real wages for hourly workers rise almost 2% in five months. No president has done that before,” he said.

Inflation Down, Take-Home Pay Up

Unlike the sky-high inflation Americans endured under the last administration, Trump’s second term has seen inflation decline, contributing to meaningful increases in workers’ purchasing power. Bessent credited this not only to tighter monetary discipline but also to the White House’s aggressive focus on manufacturing and reducing the number of illegal workers competing in the labor market.

“Biden opened the border, and it was flooded,” Bessent said. “And for working Americans, that’s a disaster because it’s pressure on their wages.”

The Trump administration’s emphasis on border security, domestic production, and tariffs designed to prioritize American jobs has upended the predictions of media outlets and economists who warned that such moves would backfire.

A Blow to the Naysayers

Critics on the left long argued that Trump’s policies—particularly tariffs and immigration enforcement—would stifle the economy and send inflation soaring. Instead, the opposite has occurred. The economy is growing, inflation is easing, and blue-collar workers are finally seeing real gains in their paychecks.

This is especially significant given that under previous administrations, wage growth largely favored white-collar professionals and coastal elites. Trump’s policies have focused on the forgotten American worker—manufacturing employees, tradespeople, and hourly laborers—who saw stagnant wages for decades.

Political Fallout for Democrats

The news also highlights a broader political dilemma for Democrats: their narrative about Trump’s supposed economic recklessness is rapidly collapsing under the weight of hard data. With wage growth surging, inflation cooling, and the economy staying resilient amid global instability, working-class voters are seeing results—and they’re taking notice.

The Trump administration has shown that it’s possible to pursue a strong America First agenda while delivering real prosperity to ordinary Americans. And according to the White House, they’re just getting started.