Trump's Economic Policies on the Ballot: The Road to the Midterms

Join us for a discussion about the state of the US economy ahead of the 2026 Midterm Elections. The U.S. midterm elections are approaching at a time of great economic uncertainty. Energy and gas prices have surged amid the ongoing conflict with Iran, rising production costs are putting renewed pressure on businesses, and affordability remains the central concern for voters across the country. Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are fueling a major investment and infrastructure boom, supporting economic growth while also raising questions about energy demand and the future of employment. At the same time, the expansion of U.S. tariffs and increasing trade tensions are reshaping global supply chains and economic relations with key partners, including across the Atlantic. How will concerns about the cost of living shape voters’ choices in this year’s midterms? How have the Trump administration’s economic policies evolved from campaign promises to implementation? How are they affecting different sectors, income groups, and regions across the United States? And what are the implications of the administration’s trade and tariff policies for transatlantic economic relations? We will discuss these and further questions with: Tyson Barker is a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center. His work focuses on US-EU relations, economic statecraft, and tech policy. He has served at the State Department in various senior positions in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs from 2014 to 2015 and from 2023 to 2025, most recently as deputy special representative for Ukraine’s economic recovery. Previously, Barker served as the founding head of the Technology and Foreign Policy Program at the German Council on Foreign Relations. He previously worked at Aspen Germany, where, as deputy executive director and fellow, he was responsible for the institute’s digital and transatlantic programs. His writing has been published in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Politico, the Atlantic, and Der Spiegel. Barker has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Dr. Samina Sultan is Senior Economist for European Economic policy and trade at the German Economic Institute. Her areas of expertise are international trade, transatlantic relations, and European fiscal and industrial policy. Before that she was part of the scientific staff of the German Council of Economic Experts. She completed her PhD in 2021 at the University of Munich with a research stay at the University of California, Berkeley. She studied economics at the Universities of Mannheim, St. Gallen and Tübingen. This event is held in cooperation between AmerikaHaus NRW, the North American Studies Program at the University of Bonn, and AmCham Germany.