Copper Courier: How are Arizonans faring under Trump? New report shows higher costs for food, health care, and energy
As President Donald Trump dismisses concerns about the economy, calling the affordability crisis a “hoax” and downplaying rising gas prices amid his war in Iran, a new report from Defend America Action, a left-leaning political group, and Progress Arizona, a progressive advocacy group, highlights how Arizonans are struggling under Trump’s policies.
A number of factors, including inflation, tariffs, and policies from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law in July, have led Arizonans to an affordability crisis, according to the report.
“His destructive policies have ripped away Arizonans’ economic security. Trump’s agenda is hurting the local economy in all areas, from his disastrous tariff regime to massive cuts to government funding, and the Trump-GOP Big, Ugly Bill, stoking a dire affordability crisis in the state,” the report states.
The report comes as Arizona voters’ approval rating of Trump’s second term fell, with just 42% approving and 55% disapproving, according to polling from Noble Predictive Insights, a Phoenix-based polling firm.
Fourteen Arizona Democrats signed onto the report including Sen. Lauren Kuby, Sen. Analise Ortiz Rep., Rep. Lorena Austin, and more.
Here’s how Arizonans are faring under Trump.
Food costs
Nationwide costs of food have increased after Trump announced sweeping new tariffs against a number of countries, including major trading partners such as Canada and Mexico. As a result of tariffs, cities like Tucson have seen higher food prices, and fast food costs across the state have increased. Arizonans see the highest costs in the nation for takeout costs, nearly 21% higher than the national average.
Despite campaign promises of lowering costs, Arizonans have also seen higher grocery costs, including higher prices for eggs, orange juice, and ground beef.
Health care
In July, President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed with Republican support, cutting nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid going into 2027, marking the steepest cuts in the program’s history. As a result, 360,000 Arizonans are at risk of losing their health care. After Republicans failed to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, which expired at the end of 2025, thousands of Arizonans are facing higher ACA premiums, too.
Arizonans who buy health insurance through the ACA now face a 29% increase in premiums, and thousands more are seeing their coverage costs at least double this year.
Arizona hospitals, too, are estimated to lose roughly $709 million annually due to the Medicaid cuts, according to the report. In November, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs urged the federal government to provide additional funding to offset the impacts the cuts will have on rural communities after Arizona was awarded the sixth-lowest amount from the federal government from the Rural Health Transformation Program, a federal initiative focused on improving healthcare access in rural areas.
Energy
Under Trump, Arizonans are seeing higher electric bills, with the average cost of a monthly utility bill costing roughly $289. Over 160,000 Arizonans are struggling to pay their utility bills as costs have jumped by 50% since 2022.
At the same time, Arizonans are at risk of a 14% rate hike from Arizona Public Service, the state’s largest electric utility company, along with a potential 14% rate hike implemented by Tucson Electric Power (TEP), an electric utility company in southern Arizona. The Salt River Project, a not-for-profit utility company, already hiked rates for 1.1 million Arizonans in November.
While Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has vowed to fight TEP’s proposed rate hike, southern Arizonans could face higher costs as soon as September.
Small businesses
Over 670,000 of Arizona’s small businesses are negatively impacted by Trump’s tariff policies including local cotton farmers who have taken a financial hit due to retaliatory tariffs. The Arizona Cotton Growers Association, an organization that advocates for Arizona’s cotton producers, told 12News in January that retaliatory tariffs resulted in a major decline in sales to China, which once purchased between 3 to 5 billion bales of US cotton per year to just a few thousand now.
Small businesses, like Brick Road Coffee, too, struggled to expand their business after Trump’s tariff policies went into effect, causing Gabe Hagen, the business owner, to cut costs in order to ensure he could open his new roastery in Mesa.
After the US Supreme Court recently struck down many of Trump’s tariffs, the president implemented another tariff of 10% on all trading partners in response.
Social services
With the passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which cut $187 billion to SNAP food assistance, an estimated 124,000 Arizona families are at risk of losing their only access to food, according to the report. Community food banks warned against the cuts, stating they wouldn’t have the resources to serve an influx of Arizonans if Arizona Republicans voted to approve the cuts.
The full report can be found here.
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