Americans are deeply frustrated with President Trump's handling of the economy and rising prices, with most panning his performance and blaming his policies as higher costs threaten his party's chances in November. A new AP-NORC poll finds that only 17% of US adults approve of the Republican president's handling of the cost of living, per the AP. Just 26% approve of his handling of the economy overall, marking a new low. A majority (65%) of US adults now blame Trump's policies for persistently high costs more than factors outside of his control, signaling growing weariness over his aggressive use of tariffs and continued unhappiness with the war with Iran.
The dismal numbers come just weeks before midterm elections that will determine whether Republicans maintain control of Congress and while Trump is hitting the campaign trail with an aggressive schedule of rallies. But Trump remains deeply unpopular, with even many Republicans faulting him for failing to deliver on promised relief. "I was hoping it would be better or different, but it's not really good," said Robert Gault, 66, a retired factory worker from Bradford, Pennsylvania, who describes himself as a Republican. "He said, 'Make America Great Again.' And I have not seen him do that."
Over the last few months, Americans have grown more worried about being able to afford basics like groceries and gas. About half of US adults now say they are "extremely" or "very" concerned about being able to fill their tanks, up from 39% in July. About half are also highly concerned about being able to afford food. Trump's current approval on the economy is a 14 percentage point drop from March 2025, just after he took office for the second time. Trump spent much of the 2024 campaign hammering Democratic President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on inflation and promising to lower prices.
Now, there's widespread disappointment with his performance. About 7 in 10 Americans say Trump's handling of the cost of living has been "worse than expected, including roughly half of GOPers, who are also concerned about being able to afford groceries and gas. About 6 in 10 Republicans don't approve of Trump's handling of the cost of living, up from about half in April. Despite their frustration, however, most Republicans (67%) say factors outside Trump's control are more to blame for high prices. Overall, the picture isn't much better: Only about 3 in 10 Americans approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, while about 6 in 10 say the nation as a whole is "much" or "somewhat" worse off than when he began his second term. More here.
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