By Aaron Blake · The Washington Post (c) 2025
The Trump administration on Tuesday offered its latest tone shift on President Donald Trump’s tariffs, in an apparent attempt to steady an increasingly rocky economic picture.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled that there could soon be a de-escalation in the huge and growing trade war with China. Meanwhile, Trump himself said he had no intention of trying to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell, amid worries that could throw gasoline on the fire. (Trump said this after a top aide had signaled just days earlier that the idea was being studied.)
A big part of the effort to soften the line – at least rhetorically, and at least for now – is undoubtedly the sour reactions to the tariffs on Wall Street.
But it shouldn’t escape notice that the ugliness on Wall Street has increasingly seeped into perceptions on Main Street, too.
Put plainly: Trump’s polling on the economy keeps deteriorating.
The big one this week was a Gallup poll that showed, for the first time in at least a quarter-century, a majority of Americans (53 percent) said their personal financial situation was getting worse. That included 28 percent of Republicans.
Just to underscore, that overall number is higher than it was during three recessions (2001, 2007-2009 and 2020) and during the persistent post-pandemic inflation of the past few years.
As troubling for the administration: The poll suggests this isn’t just about stocks. The administration and its allies have occasionally argued that the stock market isn’t really the economy. But since last year, those who don’t own stocks have actually soured slightly more (moving eight points toward “getting worse”) than those who do own stocks (five points).
A big question is how much Americans actually blame Trump. And the apparent answer is quite a bit.
Trump’s overall numbers on the economy have continued to sink to new lows in multiple polls.
Two Reuters-Ipsos polls this month have shown Trump’s approval on the economy at just 37 percent, his lowest ever – including during his first term.
Similarly, a Quinnipiac University poll showed that Americans disapproved of him on the economy by 15 points, 55 percent to 40 percent. That’s his most negative split ever.
And an Economist-YouGov poll released Wednesday showed Trump underwater by double digits on “jobs and the economy” for the first time. Americans disapproved 53 percent to 41 percent.
Within those numbers are some striking ones that are arguably even worse for Trump:
– The Quinnipiac poll showed Americans said 72 to 22 percent that his tariffs would hurt the economy in the short term and 53 to 41 that they would also hurt over the long term.
– Both the Reuters and Economist polls showed Americans disapproved of Trump by 20 or more points on inflation-related issues.
– Even 21 percent of Republicans disapproved of Trump’s handling of inflation in the Economist poll.
– The Economist poll showed that Americans said by about 30 points that Trump’s economic actions have hurt them personally rather than helped, and by more than 30 points that they have hurt rather than helped the U.S. economy.
– Only about 1 in 10 independents say Trump’s economic actions have helped them personally, while half say they have hurt.
– About four times as many say Trump’s actions have hurt them and the overall economy “a lot” as say they’ve helped “a lot.”
If you’re searching hard for a silver lining for Trump, it’s in that 41 percent of people who think his tariffs will eventually help over the long term. Trump has pleaded for patience with the short-term economic pain, and that suggests his base could stay in line enough to make it a viable political strategy.
But even those people are outnumbered by double digits. Americans overwhelmingly think what’s happening is quite bad. And it’s clear the political middle has deserted Trump on this issue.
None of which is a recipe for a real long-term fight.
