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The robust GDP numbers reported this week mask the extent to which wealthy Americans are driving growth.
President Donald Trump speaks in the library at Mar-a-Lago on March 4, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. | Alon Skuy/Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s economy has exceeded expectations in his first year back in office. Mainly for America’s wealthiest households, that is.
Through the first half of 2025, the top 10 percent of U.S. consumers were on pace to spend $10.8 trillion this year, nearly matching the $11.5 trillion rate set by the remaining 90 percent, according to an analysis by the Royal Bank of Canada. That splurge has been primed by a buoyant stock market, elevated real estate prices and solid wage gains for the wealthy. Bank of America says its top account holders saw take-home pay climb 4 percent over the last year, while income growth for poorer households grew just 1.4 percent.
