Donald Trump’s decisive electoral victory last November was won on the back of a diverse group of voters, united in discontent with rising prices. Just weeks into his new administration, however, this coalition is rapidly unravelling as reality proves rather different to expectations.

Those hoping for prosperity under Trump have had an unpleasant shock. Wednesday’s so-called liberation day was the culmination of a 10-week long bonfire of conservative economic convention in America. The standard fare of growth-seeking deregulation and tax cuts gave way to an act of amateurish economic vandalism that betrays both the “us vs them” ideology at the heart of everything Trump does, and the lack of any clear framework to his actions.

The speed and scale of the American public’s souring on Trump’s economic agenda is stunning. This week, just before the tariff chaos, 63 per cent of Americans had a negative view of the government’s economic policy, comfortably the highest figure since records began almost 50 years ago.