I Asked ChatGPT for Trump Policy Impacts in 2026 — 3 Predictions for Middle Class
Written by
Nicole Spector
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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It’s been just over one year since President Donald Trump took office for his second term, and in that time the Trump administration has rolled out a number of sweeping financial policies. Among them include the implementation of reciprocal tariffs, the signing of the GENIUS Act and the passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
What do these major moves mean for like myself in 2026? I asked ChatGPT how Trump is going to impact my finances, sharing only one thing about myself — that where I live, I’m considered in the middle range of the middle class.
1. Unimpressive Tax Benefits for Middle Class
ChatGPT immediately pointed to the OBBBA and its tax policies, including increasing standard deductions for middle-income families, However, a major caveat was noted.
“Non-partisan analyses show that middle-income taxpayers get much smaller tax benefits than the wealthiest 1%, both in percentage and absolute terms,” ChatGPT wrote. “Wealthy households tend to receive the largest share of total tax cuts.”
When asked how much the middle class stands to save on taxes under Trump, ChatGPT responded, “Households in the middle fifth of the income distribution (roughly $52,000 to $89,000) are estimated to get about $900 less in federal income taxes per year on average.”
Next, I asked how much the 1% could save from Trump’s tax policy.
“Analyses from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) estimate that households in the top 1% (roughly those earning above about $900,000+) could receive an average federal income tax cut of about $60,000 to $66,000 per year in 2026 due to the tax changes.”
And what about the 0.01%?
“Very high-income households (the richest 0.1%) — defined as those earning more than about $5 million per year — are projected to receive average federal tax cuts of around $1.4 million per year under Trump’s tax proposals,” ChatGPT wrote.
So, those who sit in middle class territory could save a bit of money — probably in the ballpark of what their tax refund usually is — but the OBBBA likely won’t help them rise to the rungs of the upper middle class anytime soon.
2. Tariff-Related Inflation Pains
Low-income households and retirees on a fixed income suffer the most from inflation, but the middle class takes a beating, as well. Trump has imposed steep reciprocal tariffs on imports from countries around the globe, including major international manufacturing hubs such as China and Japan. Price hikes meant to punish exporters are also punishing American consumers.
“One estimate suggests tariffs could add hundreds to about $1,700 per year to typical middle-class household costs,” ChatGPT said.
3. Slashed Medicaid…and Potentially More Federal Cuts
Via the OBBBA, Trump slashed funding for Medicaid. Medicaid cuts have already hurt many low- and middle-class Americans, according to numerous sources. ChatGPT pointed out that we could see additional cuts to come that would potentially impact the middle class even more. The AI chatbot highlighted both Medicare and Social Security as federal programs that could be affected.
Cuts to Medicare could make saving for retirement far harder, and for those of us helping out our boomer parents, it could mean having to shell out a lot more money to ensure they’re getting medical treatment. A slashing of Social Security retirement benefits would take the wind out of our retirement planning (millions of middle-class retirees depend on Social Security as part of their income), and likely slow the growth of future COLAs.
ChatGPT briefly spoke to the broader economic impact of these federal lifeline programs, noting that they hurt us in deeper ways that we may realize:
“Even if your household doesn’t directly use Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security today, cuts weaken the social safety net, increase healthcare costs and create future financial risk, particularly for medical expenses and retirement security. Middle-class families often feel these effects through higher costs, slower benefit growth and less protection in emergencies.”
It’s hard to take in all this information from ChatGPT and not feel concerned. It’s not just that, financially, 2026 could be a struggle, but also that I’m getting all this trusted insight from AI — an increasing source of job loss, according to CNBC and numerous other reputable news outlets.
Of course, one must not get discouraged, as this could lead to falling prey to bad financial habits. After all, as Warren Buffett said, “The most important thing to do if you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging.”
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