Democrats think they have found their 2026 campaign message: President Trump equals chaos. Ironically, that perception presents an opportunity for Mr. Trump if he uses it to deliver stable, economically grounded governance. Restoring clear, rational regulation that encourages investment and growth is a good place to start.

Economic confidence is faltering. The Economist reports that public approval of Mr. Trump’s handling of the economy has dropped from 49% in January to 41% today. A Politico survey found that 62% of Americans now view Mr. Trump as “chaotic,” a perception reinforced by mixed signals about tariffs. Americans still rate Mr. Trump’s economic record above President Biden’s, whose regulatory agenda was deeply destabilizing. However, as Rep. Jake Auchincloss, Massachusetts Democrat, put it to The Wall Street Journal, voters “feel the chaos” in their portfolios, grocery prices and job prospects.

In this environment, Mr. Trump has a golden opportunity to resolve economic turbulence with regulatory stability, especially in antitrust policy. A 2024 National Association of Manufacturers survey found that 61% of manufacturers cited excessive regulation as a top business concern, more than supply chain issues or labor shortages. A related study pegged the cost of federal regulation at nearly $15,000 per employee for small businesses. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce called the Biden years a “regulatory onslaught” that drained $1.8 trillion from the economy.

Among the most economically damaging moves was Mr. Biden’s abandonment of the consumer welfare standard in antitrust. Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan replaced it with a vague mandate to disperse economic clout, an ideological project that courts repeatedly rejected, and for good reason. The dogma rejects economic analysis and drains consumers’ pocketbooks. Her heavy-handedness drove FTC commissioners and veteran staff out of the agency. Her agency failed in its high-profile cases, including the attempt to block Meta’s acquisition of a small virtual reality app, which a federal judge dismissed as “speculative.”

Mr. Biden’s Justice Department followed the same path, targeting industries while ignoring consumer impacts. In one of its most damaging actions, the Justice Department blocked the JetBlue-Spirit merger. Instead, the supposed effort to preserve “competition” left Spirit in bankruptcy, consumers with fewer travel options and workers with fewer jobs. The Justice Department prosecuted Google because its search engine, which was “miraculous” in quality — which the judge in the case said benefited from superior engineering and innovations — nonetheless benefited from contracts that made its service more convenient to users.

The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Visa was equally puzzling for offering volume discounts and loyalty rewards, practices standard in industries such as software and coffee shops. Visa’s success in processing 60% of U.S. debit card transactions doesn’t imply illegality. It could just mean the product works better. As former FTC Commissioner William Kovacic noted, “It’s not enough to be big. You have to be bad as well.”

Markets function best under rules that are clear, consistent and grounded in evidence. That’s why Mr. Trump’s regulators should reinstate the consumer welfare standard and steer clear of dialogically motivated enforcement. Returning to principled antitrust would signal that American businesses won’t be punished for their success.

The economic benefits of stable policy are well documented. A 2015 Review of Financial Studies article found that policy uncertainty significantly reduces firm-level investment. Other recent studies add that production and employment decline when firms fear arbitrary or erratic rules.

However, things aren’t looking good for rational antitrust enforcement under Mr. Trump. His Justice Department continues the Biden agenda to break up Google even though its only crime is having contracts of more than one year in length, a standard that should shock anyone who has run a business. His FTC follows in Mr. Biden’s footsteps by seeking to break up Meta because its unprecedented success in connecting friends and families “deprives advertisers of the benefits of competition.” This is demonstrably false as the company trails Google and is losing ground.

If Mr. Trump wants to deliver long-term prosperity, he should make clear that his administration believes in the rule of law and letting customers drive markets. His turbulent tariff policies may make news, but trust in the regulatory framework builds economies. Stability, not spectacle, is what will make America grow again.