How bad has Trump been for North Carolina? Now you can track the ways | Opinion
How bad has Donald Trump’s presidency been for North Carolina so far? As it turns out, we can actually count the ways.
American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic super PAC and research organization, released a database Monday that tracks the impacts of the Trump administration’s agenda in all 50 states. Its goal is to document the effects that slashing federal spending has already had on the economy, public health and public safety.
Here are just some of the impacts in North Carolina so far, according to the database:
Abrupt termination of tens of millions of dollars in federal grants used by North Carolina public schools to recruit and retain teachers, particularly in high-needs schools.
Evisceration of the Affordable Care Act’s federal navigator program, which helps people enroll in health plans. The massive reduction in funding “has advocates concerned that Western North Carolina residents, many still recovering in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene, won’t get the support they need when it comes to accessing health care coverage,” according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.
Cuts to funding that allows schools in low-income areas to offer free meals to students.
Termination of programs that provided food to schools and food banks by buying it from local farmers. Not only does that affect students and food banks, it also affects rural farmers now facing a loss in sales.
So far, the database lists 12 impacts, although there certainly could be more to come. There are other impacts not listed in the database, such as cuts to billions of dollars in federal funding for medical research at North Carolina colleges and institutions and cuts that significantly impact public health efforts at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
The good news is that there’s also evidence to suggest that backlash to Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE’s actions is working. Some of the items in the database, including the firing of Forest Service employees that were helping with Hurricane Helene recovery and wildfire prevention and the scheduled closure of four Social Security offices in rural parts of the state, have been at least partially reversed — for now.
But Trump and his administration are still creating chaos that have very real impacts for North Carolina. It’s important that we know just how much.
This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 10:47 AM with the headline "How bad has Trump been for North Carolina? Now you can track the ways | Opinion."
