The White House released its 2026 economic report on Monday, detailing 14 “topics of importance” for American families. The report focused on trade and tax policies President Donald Trump is trying to highlight amid growing discontent with the economy.
The report is put together annually by the president’s Council of Economic Advisers and submitted to Congress. It detailed Trump’s first year back in office, and his economic achievements and goals.
“In just the first year, we have enacted far-reaching reforms whose full benefits will compound over this term and beyond. As they do, I will work tirelessly to continue to deliver wins for Americans, and to put Americans First,” Trump and the White House said in the report. “The policies and successes outlined in the report that follows demonstrate how we can make America great again.”
Here is a breakdown of some of the report:
Tax cuts and Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’
The advisers detail how, passed on July 4, 2025, the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or OBBBA, built on the tax cuts passed in 2017 during Trump’s first term.
Passing OBBBA was a key agenda item for the president upon returning to office. The House passed the massive tax package, marking a major victory for the president and Republicans in Congress after the legislation spent months being debated.
The advisers outlined that the act’s tax cuts benefit blue-collar workers and small businesses, including with no tax on tips and other measures targeting workers who are “more economically fragile.” The measure also “extends and strengthens” child tax credit and extends the low tax rates and larger standard deduction from Trump’s first term increases. The advisers say it increases the incentive to work, boosts labor supply and raises the country’s gross domestic product.
A year’s worth of trade agreements
One of Trump’s key agenda items upon returning to the White House was implementing widespread, international tariffs. In the months following a “Liberation Day” announcement, the president secured trade and economic agreements from countries around the world.
“Foreign unfair trading practices and beggar-thy-neighbor trade and industrial policies in other countries have created tremendous problems across the U.S. economy and negate the efficiencies of trade, to the detriment of American workers and industry,” the advisers said.
“When President Trump returned to office in January 2025, he did so with a clear mandate from the American people: to confront a trade system that had drifted far from balance, fairness, and reciprocity, and to restore trade policy as a tool that serves American workers, industries, and national security,” they said.
The report detailed how production for certain materials left the United States and how previous agreements left U.S. companies needing to outsource.
It also included various agreements struck with key trade partners, including the U.S.-European Union Economic Framework, the U.S.-Japan Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership, deals with Taiwan, the United Kingdom, South Korea and India, among other countries.
The advisers said the new trade policy has already begun to “yield tangible results,” which proves that America’s economic dependence on other nations, including on potential adversaries, is no longer necessary.
Defense spending at all-time high
This year, Trump urged Congress to approve more than $1.1 trillion in defense spending, partially for military purposes but also as part of the administration’s extensive immigration enforcement plan.
Most recently, the White House laid out its 2027 fiscal year proposal, asking Congress to approve a big increase in military spending, about a 40% increase from what the Pentagon spent in the 2026 fiscal year.
The about $1.5 trillion for defense was justified by cutting about $73 billion in domestic spending, including in health, housing, agriculture and education programs.
The advisers say the spending is necessary for U.S. national security and the military’s ability to “defend and deter aggression.”
“By expanding and reforming its spending, removing barriers to entry, and thus incentivizing the crowding in of private capital, the federal government has made considerable progress in recent years to bolster both demand and supply in the defense industrial base,” the report said.
However, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have shown skepticism in recent weeks about upping the defense budget as the president has provided limited information about the ongoing war in Iran.
Year in review and the years ahead
The report detailed several of the president’s other economic priorities, including artificial intelligence, homebuying initiatives, energy dominance goals, the “economic consequences of DEI,” making American healthier intiatives and more.
The advisers also highlighted how the administration plans to continue to implement and expand upon its economic policies before Trump’s term is up.
The advisers noted that the historic government shutdown last fall impacted the country’s gross domestic product, falling .4% from 2024.
“Strong growth in business fixed investment supported real GDP growth in each quarter of 2025, while the growth of consumer spending was solid, and export growth was positive. Residential investment, however, fell,” the report said.
“Looking ahead, real GDP is expected to grow at an annual rate of 3.0 percent during the 11-year Federal Budget window, with stable inflation and lower interest rates than in 2025,” it said.
The Trump administration predicted that the macroeconomy will “quickly settle into a healthy steady state” in 2026 and inflation will be steady at a rate consistent with the Federal Reserve’s target, even as the increase in the price of oil because of the war with Iran puts pressure on inflation.