A new poll shows declining voter confidence in President Donald Trump‘s handling of the economy.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted between February 12 and 18, 53 percent of Americans believed the economy was on the wrong track, up from 43 percent in the organizations’ January 24 to 26 poll.
Why It Matters
Previous polling showed that the economy was the most important issue to voters in the 2024 election—with many casting their ballots for Trump, who was inaugurated last month, hoping he would fulfill his pledge to curb inflation while revitalizing U.S. trade and industry.
But the U.S. economy has been tumultuous in recent years as the country recovers from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and recent data shows prices rising.
President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 18.
AP
What To Know
Public approval of Trump’s handling of the economy also fell to 39 percent in February from 43 percent in January. In the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, 32 percent of respondents said they approved of Trump’s performance on inflation.
In February 2017, the first full month of Trump’s first term as president, Reuters/Ipsos polling showed his rating for the economy at 53 percent.
The latest poll may be a worrying sign for Trump, who vowed during his campaign that inflation would “vanish completely” when he returned to the White House.
According to a Labor Department report, in January, consumer prices saw their largest increase in almost 18 months, with Americans facing rising costs across various goods and services. Other data indicates that U.S. households expect inflation to rise following Trump’s February 1 announcement for tariffs of up to 25 percent on goods from Mexico and Canada and a 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports.
Previous analysis by Goldman Sachs estimated that tariffs would raise consumer price inflation by 1 percent if carried out. They would also hurt profit margins for U.S. companies while increasing the threat of retaliatory tariffs by other countries, the bank projected.
Still, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found that Americans were divided over whether they approved of the tariffs, with 54 percent of respondents saying they opposed new tariffs on imported goods from other countries, while 41 percent were in favor of them. Increasing tariffs on Chinese goods had higher levels of support, with 49 percent in favor and 47 percent against.
The poll surveyed 4,145 U.S. adults nationwide and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Trump’s Approval Rating
The Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that Trump’s overall approval rating fell, marginally, to 44 percent. In the January 24 to 26 poll, it was 45 percent, and it was 47 percent in a January 20 to 21 poll.
The poll also showed that 51 percent of respondents disapproved of his presidency, up from 41 percent right after he took office.
However, other polls have shown that the president is more popular than ever. For example, a January 27 to 28 poll from Emerson College, which surveyed 1,000 registered voters, showed that Trump’s approval rating stood at 49 percent, with 41 percent disapproval. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
That marks an increase for Trump from his first term, when Emerson College polling showed that his approval rating peaked at 48 percent in August 2020.
Trump’s favorability rating has also seen historic highs recently, according to 538’s tracker, which shows his net favorability rating at -1.6, up from a low of -18 in February 2021.
According to the latest Gallup poll, Trump holds the lowest approval rating of any elected president since 1953 and is the only one to start with sub-50 percent approval.
Other polls indicate public support for Trump’s immigration agenda, which has included ramping up deportations and proposals to build facilities to house illegal immigrants at Guantanamo Bay. The Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that 47 percent of respondents backed Trump’s immigration approach. The share was little changed from January.
Another poll, conducted by The New York Times and Ipsos between January 2 and 10, found that 55 percent of voters supported Trump’s mass deportation plan, while 88 percent supported deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records. Most Democrats and Republicans agreed that the immigration system was broken.
What People Are Saying
Thomas Gift, an associate professor of political science and the director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, told Newsweek: “Americans are coming to grips with the reality that there’s no silver bullet on inflation. While several of Joe Biden‘s stimulus packages overheated the economy and arguably made the cost-of-living crisis worst, many of the drivers of inflation are structural, related to supply chains, and can’t be reversed overnight. It’s also hard to think of two policies that would be more inflationary than mass deportations and tariffs, both of which Trump has made the centerpiece of his platform. The idea that electing Trump would suddenly drop the price of eggs and milk was always unrealistic. Apparently, some voters are just starting to recognize this hard truth.”
President Donald Trump said at the World Economic Forum on January 23: “My administration is acting with unprecedented speed to fix the disasters we’ve inherited from a totally inept group of people and to solve every single crisis facing our country. This begins with confronting the economic chaos caused by the failed policies of the last administration.
“Over the past four years, our government racked up $8 trillion in wasteful deficit spending and inflicted nation-wrecking energy restrictions, crippling regulations, and hidden taxes like never before. The result is the worst inflation crisis in modern history and sky-high interest rates for our citizens and even throughout the world. Food prices and the price of almost every other thing known to mankind went through the roof.”
What Happens Next
The effects of Trump’s wide-ranging economic agenda, which includes lowering taxes and increasing tariffs on the U.S.’s major trade partners, are expected to become clearer in the coming months.