President Donald Trump easily carried Clare County, Michigan, in the 2024 presidential election, winning the rural community by wide margins. But less than a year into his new term, some of his supporters there are beginning to question their loyalty as everyday costs continue to rise and local food pantries struggle to keep up with demand, according to a report from Reuters on Sunday.
Clare County is the kind of place that helped fuel Trump’s return to the White House. It is heavily rural, working class, and deeply skeptical of Washington. Yet even in this reliably Republican area, economic pressure is forcing voters to reassess their political future.
“I would probably vote the way the conditions are going,” said Bob Benjamin, a retired auto worker and longtime Trump supporter who now relies on a local food pantry to get by. Speaking to Reuters about how he views the next election cycle, Benjamin added, “If [Trump is] doing good, if you can see it coming out of a hole, then I give it two more years. But if it’s starting to go back down again, well, maybe we need a little change.”
During the campaign, Trump made fighting inflation and lowering prices a central promise, pledging to “bring down the prices of all goods” and to do so “starting day one.” Instead, prices have continued to climb since he took office in January. Between January and November, the cost of food rose by 2.1 percentage points, putting additional strain on households already stretched thin.
Energy costs have added to the pressure. In the first five months of 2025, energy prices jumped by nearly 10 percent, an increase described as “substantially higher than in previous years.” Much of that surge has been tied to the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers, a major priority of the Trump administration. These facilities require enormous amounts of power and are often subsidized by nearby communities, driving up local energy bills.
Taylor Ludwig, a 35-year-old mother of three and Trump supporter in Clare County, has also turned to food pantries to make ends meet. Asked whether she plans to support the Republican nominee in the next presidential election, Ludwig said she remains undecided.
“I’m not just gonna follow along with somebody like a sheep,” she said. “I will follow you until I know it’s not OK to.” Inflation overall has continued to rise as well. As of November, inflation stood about 2.7 percent higher than a year earlier. While far from the extreme spikes seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, the steady increase has been enough to unsettle voters who expected immediate relief. In places like Clare County, patience appears to be wearing thin.
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