{"id":4112,"date":"2026-07-29T20:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112"},"modified":"2026-07-29T20:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:38:16","slug":"trump-driving-higher-income-americans-to-max-out-credit-cards-for-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112","title":{"rendered":"Trump driving higher income Americans to max out credit cards \u2014 for food"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

President Donald Trump keeps playing down the importance of affordability in his ailing economy, but Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary says nobody\u2019s playing.<\/p>\n

Read more GOP senator abruptly halts meeting after Trump pick ignores demand to kill slush fund<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is no game for struggling Americans,\u201d said Singletary. \u201cThe latest Urban Institute survey on family well-being and basic needs highlights a critical shift in consumer behavior. Last year, more than 1 in 3 working-age adults used credit cards to buy groceries\u2014 and many of them had trouble paying them off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople aren\u2019t being financially reckless. They are surviving,\u201d said Singeltary, pointing out that it\u2019s no longer just low-income households that are pulling out their credit cards in grocery lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe same report found that even among high-income working-age adults using credit cards for groceries, many experienced repayment challenges,\u201d said Singletary.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t help that prices for food at home rose 2.7 percent between June 2025 and June 2026, during Trump\u2019s second terms, according to from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Four of the six major grocery store food groups \u2014 meats, poultry, fish, and eggs \u2014 increased by 2.6 percent over the year. The fruits and vegetables index was up 5.3 percent.<\/p>\n

When their paychecks or emergency funds fail to cover their groceries, families inevitably tapped into long-term savings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2025, nearly 1 in 5 working-age adults (19.6 percent) dipped into non-daily savings for groceries, while 5.2 percent relied on payday loans,\u201d said Singletary. <\/p>\n

Read more Trump reaches new low as he loses \u2018backbone\u2019 of his movement<\/a><\/p>\n

And a quick note on \u201cpayday loans,\u201d if you don\u2019t already know: With a payday loan, a borrower promises to repay the funds with their next paycheck. The fees for these loans can be $15 for every $100 borrowed. But when you translate that fee into an annual interest rate, it can reach triple digits. And even though a payday loan is not designed to be an annual interest rate kind of loan, borrowers often have to take out another loan just to pay off the original. If this goes on for months, you\u2019re pushing 300 percent to 700 percent interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamilies are compounding their financial strain by paying for groceries with revolving debt, which then traps them into accumulating years of interest payments for food they\u2019ve long since consumed. It also prolongs their \u2018financial distress,\u2019 said Kassandra Martinchek, senior research associate at the Urban Institute.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Singletary said the Trump administration\u2019s changes in federal food assistance in the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act overhauled the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by adding stricter work rules, limiting who qualifies, and forcing states to foot more of the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamilies are already feeling the fallout,\u201d said Singletary. \u201cBetween July 2025 and April 2026, more than 4.5 million people fell off SNAP rolls nationwide, according to a tracker by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan think tank. In just 19 states with available data, more than 1 million children have been cut from SNAP food assistance since the law passed, according to a blog post by the center this month.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debt spent on survival doesn\u2019t build wealth or drive economic growth, Singletary concluded. \u201cConsumers forced to rely on microloans via Buy Now, Pay Later plans, predatory payday loans, or credit for basic sustenance are a warning sign for the entire economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Missing Mitch\u2019 fliers pop up around Washington<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump keeps playing down the importance of affordability in his ailing economy, but Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary says nobody\u2019s playing.\u201cThis is no game for struggling Americans,\u201d said Singletary. \u201cThe latest Urban Institute survey on family well-being and basic need…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump driving higher income Americans to max out credit cards \u2014 for food - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump driving higher income Americans to max out credit cards \u2014 for food - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Donald Trump keeps playing down the importance of affordability in his ailing economy, but Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary says nobody\u2019s playing.\u201cThis is no game for struggling Americans,\u201d said Singletary. \u201cThe latest Urban Institute survey on family well-being and basic need...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-29T20:38:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4112#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4112\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"headline\":\"Trump driving higher income Americans to max out credit cards \u2014 for food\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-29T20:38:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4112\"},\"wordCount\":568,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4112#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/a46ffb9b0ca4543906ac909c1c61b817.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4112#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4112\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4112\",\"name\":\"Trump driving higher income Americans to max out credit cards \u2014 for food - Next Address America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4112#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4112#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/a46ffb9b0ca4543906ac909c1c61b817.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-29T20:38:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4112#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4112\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4112#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/a46ffb9b0ca4543906ac909c1c61b817.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/a46ffb9b0ca4543906ac909c1c61b817.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4112#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump driving higher income Americans to max out credit cards \u2014 for food\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next Address America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump driving higher income Americans to max out credit cards \u2014 for food - Next Address America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump driving higher income Americans to max out credit cards \u2014 for food - Next Address America","og_description":"President Donald Trump keeps playing down the importance of affordability in his ailing economy, but Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary says nobody\u2019s playing.\u201cThis is no game for struggling Americans,\u201d said Singletary. \u201cThe latest Urban Institute survey on family well-being and basic need...","og_url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112","og_site_name":"Next Address America","article_published_time":"2026-07-29T20:38:16+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3"},"headline":"Trump driving higher income Americans to max out credit cards \u2014 for food","datePublished":"2026-07-29T20:38:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112"},"wordCount":568,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a46ffb9b0ca4543906ac909c1c61b817.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112","name":"Trump driving higher income Americans to max out credit cards \u2014 for food - Next Address America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a46ffb9b0ca4543906ac909c1c61b817.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-29T20:38:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a46ffb9b0ca4543906ac909c1c61b817.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a46ffb9b0ca4543906ac909c1c61b817.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4112#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump driving higher income Americans to max out credit cards \u2014 for food"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/","name":"Next Address America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}