The fictional adman Donald Draper often held forth on happiness, once explaining: “Happiness is the smell of a new car. It’s freedom from fear. It’s a billboard on the side of the road that screams with reassurance that whatever you’re doing is okay. You are okay.”
It would appear, at least based on the World Happiness Report 2025, that Americans as a whole are significantly less happy than they used to be, despite economic growth and technological advancements. The US continues to slide in the World Happiness Rankings, struggling to even make the top 20. Trust in institutions, government, and even neighbours has plummeted, with only 30% of Americans saying they trust others, down from 50% in the 1970s.
A loneliness epidemic is gripping the country, particularly among young adults, with one in five reporting they have no close friends. More Americans are dining alone, living alone, and spending less time engaging in meaningful social interactions. Political polarisation is at an all-time high, creating two completely separate realities, where people see opposing views as existential threats. Perhaps most alarming, deaths of despair—suicides, drug overdoses, and alcohol-related deaths—are still rising in the US, even as they decline in other countries. The most disillusioned group isn’t Trump or Biden supporters but abstainers—those who don’t vote at all—who report the lowest levels of happiness and the highest levels of alienation. Simply put, America is becoming wealthier but lonelier, more divided, and more distrustful—a toxic combination that keeps dragging national happiness down.
The Happiness Recession: America Slips Down the Rankings
Once comfortably ranked among the world’s happiest nations, the US has been steadily falling down the list. Nordic countries such as Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden continue to dominate the top spots, while the US struggles to crack the top 20.
This isn’t just a statistical quirk—it reflects deep, systemic issues eroding the nation’s well-being. Even as GDP per capita rises and the economy remains strong, life satisfaction continues to drop, proving that financial prosperity alone isn’t enough to sustain happiness. Other nations have balanced economic success with social trust and mental well-being, while America remains trapped in political discord and cultural fragmentation.
The Core of American Unhappiness
One of the biggest factors dragging down happiness levels is the collapse of social trust. Decades ago, Americans largely believed in their institutions, their communities, and even their neighbours. Today, that belief has all but vanished. Only 30% of Americans say they trust others, a dramatic drop from 50% in the 1970s. This loss of trust isn’t just theoretical—it has real-world consequences, affecting everything from community engagement to mental health. Countries that consistently top the happiness index tend to have high levels of social trust, proving that people are happiest when they feel they can rely on those around them.
Adding to the crisis is the rise of loneliness, which has become a defining feature of modern American life. Young adults, in particular, are experiencing record levels of social isolation, with nearly one in five reporting no close friends. This marks a stark contrast from previous generations, which placed a strong emphasis on in-person socialising and communal living. But loneliness isn’t just limited to the young—it’s spreading across all age groups, with more Americans dining alone, living alone, and spending long periods without meaningful social interaction. Technology and social media were supposed to bring people closer, yet they have often done the opposite, replacing real-life relationships with digital substitutes that fail to provide the same emotional satisfaction.
Then there’s political polarisation, which has transformed the country from a melting pot into a pressure cooker. Americans aren’t just disagreeing on issues—they are living in completely separate realities, consuming different news, believing different facts, and viewing the other side as an existential threat. This division doesn’t just create political dysfunction—it actively erodes happiness. Countries with lower levels of political polarisation tend to rank higher in well-being, as their citizens share a greater sense of unity and purpose. Meanwhile, America remains stuck in a cycle of perpetual outrage, where every election feels like a battle for survival rather than an opportunity for progress.
Perhaps the most alarming indicator of declining happiness is the rise of deaths of despair—a term describing suicides, drug overdoses, and alcohol-related deaths. While other countries have successfully reduced these numbers, the US remains an outlier, with despair-driven deaths continuing to rise. These aren’t just statistics—they reflect a growing sense of hopelessness among large sections of the population. People aren’t just unhappy—they are giving up. Economic growth, technological advancements, and medical breakthroughs have not been enough to curb this crisis, suggesting the problem is deeply rooted in America’s social fabric rather than in any individual policy failure.
Can Trump Make America Happy Again?
For millions of Americans, Donald Trump represents a return to something better—whether that’s economic prosperity, national pride, or simply the satisfaction of watching him challenge the political establishment. His supporters report higher-than-average life satisfaction, but with a crucial caveat—they also have some of the lowest levels of trust in society. This paradox means that while Trump voters may feel personally content, they remain deeply sceptical of the system, the media, and even their fellow Americans.
This raises an important question: is happiness based on personal satisfaction, or does it require a broader sense of national unity?
Trump’s Happiness Paradox
Despite Trump’s promises to restore American greatness, the numbers suggest otherwise. His first term saw a booming stock market, low unemployment, and strong economic growth, yet the nation’s happiness rankings continued to decline.
This reinforces a critical lesson—economic success alone does not guarantee happiness. If it did, the US, with its immense wealth, would be at the top of the happiness index. But happiness is about more than money—it’s about social stability, trust in institutions, and strong community ties—all of which have been steadily eroding, regardless of who is in the White House.
A major factor in this decline is that Trump thrives on political division, and division directly contributes to national unhappiness. His appeal is strongest among those who feel alienated from the system, but that very alienation fuels broader dissatisfaction. Happiness thrives in societies where people feel they are working towards shared goals. In the US, that sense of shared purpose has been replaced by ideological warfare, where every political victory for one side feels like an existential loss for the other.
In Mad Men, Don Draper had another favourite phrase: “If you don’t like what they’re saying, change the conversation.”
Now, the question is whether Trump can change the conversation—or the perception—and make Americans happier again. Trump’s return to the political stage may energise his supporters, but America’s happiness crisis isn’t just a branding problem—it’s a fundamental issue of social decay. The core drivers of national discontent—rising loneliness, collapsing trust, and political division—cannot be solved with campaign rallies and viral soundbites. If anything, Trump’s presence is more likely to exacerbate polarisation than to heal the divisions dragging the country down.
That’s not to say he won’t change the conversation. He already has. In Trump’s America, politics is entertainment, outrage is currency, and every election is a battle for survival. For those who thrive on the chaos, this might feel like purpose. But a divided country, forever at war with itself, isn’t a happy one.
At the end of the day, happiness isn’t about GDP growth, stock market performance, or who controls Congress. It’s about trust, relationships, and a sense of belonging.
Until America reckons with these deeper fractures, no political leader—Trump or otherwise—will be able to make America happy again.