Trump Voters Say They’ve Been “Swindled” by the President They Once Loved

Supporters who helped reelect Trump now say they regret it — accusing him of betrayal, waste, and broken promises.

A year after Donald Trump returned to the White House, some of his biggest fans say they’re done with him.

“I feel completely swindled,” said Morgen Morgus, a Pennsylvania voter who proudly backed Trump last year. “If the election were held today—with the same candidates—I’d sit it out.”

In a letter to USA Today, Morgus said he believed Trump would “listen to the people.” Now, he says that hope is gone. “Unfortunately, that is not happening,” he wrote.

Many former Trump voters say they were shocked when the president began building a $300 million ballroom at the White House — right as funding for food stamps ran out for 42 million Americans.

“Trump used to talk about helping working people,” said Betty Szretter, a 63-year-old mom from Buffalo whose daughter has diabetes. “Now he’s spending hundreds of millions on ballrooms while families can’t afford groceries.”

She said she felt “ashamed” to have supported him. “The Trump administration should be focused on people’s dining rooms, not dance floors,” she told CNN.

Photos of bulldozers tearing into the East Wing sparked anger online. Critics called the project “Versailles on Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” a massive spending law passed earlier this year, added over $1 trillion to the federal deficit.

“It’s one of the largest spending packages in U.S. history,” Morgus said. “It completely wiped out the government’s earlier cost-cutting progress.”

He said he plans to vote Libertarian in the next election. “I want smaller government,” he said. “And that’s clearly not what Trump is doing.”

Latino voters who helped Trump win big in 2024 are also turning away.

“I didn’t think it was going to be this bad,” said one voter in a Bulwark focus group. “Families are being torn apart. It’s heartbreaking.”

Immigrant-rights groups say the president’s deportation raids have reached “record-breaking levels,” separating children from their parents despite public outrage.

Polls show Trump’s approval rating with independents has dropped sharply since summer.

CNN commentator Van Jones said many Trump voters now feel duped. “They thought they were getting a fighter,” he said. “Instead, they got a showman with a ballroom.”

Democrats see opportunity heading into the 2026 midterms. “People believed his slogans,” said Pennsylvania strategist Maria Esposito. “Now they’re seeing the truth — and it’s ugly.”

Source: USA Today, CNN, The Bulwark