Trump policies gutting Virginia economy: How do we dig ourselves back out?

The Trump tariffs, and the massive Trump federal government layoffs, both championed by Glenn Youngkin and Winsome Earle-Sears, are going to gut Virginia’s economy over the next 18 months.

A new report from the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at UVA – warning: Trump is going to try to get the folks there fired – is projecting continued issues with inflation, increased unemployment, and net negative job growth through the end of calendar year 2025 and the entirety of calendar year 2026.

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ICYMI

• Virginia unemployment rate up for seventh straight month, as MAGAs twiddle their thumbs

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The final assessment is GDP growth in Virginia at “a modest pace that mirrors national expectations and underscores the Commonwealth’s position as a slow-growing economy,” the report, titled “Economic Forecast for Virginia,” published on Aug. 13, tells us.

This is the kind of thing that happens when you put a guy in the White House whose business career was defined by stiffing contractors, going way over budget on projects, and ultimately having to file for multiple bankruptcies, because he didn’t know what he’s doing.

Trump’s champions in state government – Youngkin, a hedge-fund guy, and Earle-Sears, who ran a small business that was known for customer complaints – are, maybe, not the kind of people you want leading you through an economic crisis.

Not only have neither showed any backbone in terms of standing up to Trump for his bonehead economic policy moves, they’ve each been throaty cheerleaders.

“Virginians deserve a governor who will put Virginia’s economy first,” said Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman who is the Democratic Party nominee for governor, running against Earle-Sears, the sitting lieutenant governor.

The Virginia Constitution prohibits Youngkin from running for re-election.

Odd, that he didn’t threaten, a la Trump, to just run anyway, to spur the sale of Youngkin 2025 hats, if nothing else.

The Weldon Cooper Center report is projecting the state’s unemployment rate, which has increased all seven months of calendar year 2025 – the first seven months of Trump’s second term in the White House – to continue to increase, hitting 4.2 percent in December, and topping out at 4.6 percent in 2026, which would be the highest rate since 2021, the second year of the COVID pandemic downturn.

Spanberger’s response to the gloom and doom is her Growing Virginia Plan, which includes points of focus on helping farmers grow the state’s agricultural economy with a focus on building markets throughout the U.S. and globally, putting renewed emphasis on Virginia’s advantages in the fields of national security, defense, shipbuilding, and cybersecurity, and assisting workers through job training and retraining programs and by reducing barriers to work – including establishing a paid-leave program and increasing access to affordable childcare.

“As Virginia’s next governor, I will do everything in my power to get Virginia’s economy back on track,” Spanberger said. “I will work every day to foster a strong business climate that promotes growth and creates good-paying jobs. I will never be afraid to stand up for Virginia’s workers and Virginia’s economy when chaos in Washington is hurting our Commonwealth. And I will never put allegiance to a political party ahead of what’s best for Virginia.”