With consumer prices still higher than a year ago, voters disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy more than his job overall, rating the economic record his weakest measure, a new national poll found.
Consumer prices rose 3.4% over the 12 months ending in July, and the economy grew at a 1.5% annual rate in the second quarter. As a candidate, Trump vowed to “immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One.” In the latest The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll, 40% of registered voters said they approve of Trump’s handling of the economy and 58% disapprove, a net rating of negative 17. On his job overall, 42% approve and 56% disapprove, a net rating of negative 14.
Both measures improved modestly from the June Voters’ Voice Poll, when Trump’s economy rating stood at a net negative 23 and his overall job approval at net negative 18. In both surveys, the economy has been his softer number.
Forty-five percent of registered voters said they strongly disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, and the same share strongly disapproves of his job performance overall. In each case, that was the single largest response and outweighed the combined total who somewhat or strongly approve.
The disapproval comes as the Federal Reserve describes the economy as broadly strong. In an Aug. 28 address, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, whom Trump appointed, said he was “impressed by the overall performance of the economy, which appears to have strengthened,” citing rising business investment and a jobless rate of 4.1%, “low by historical standards.”
Warsh also said inflation remained “more concerning” and above the central bank’s 2% target. Federal data shows consumer prices up 3.4% over the 12 months ending in July.
Asked about the poll’s findings, White House spokesman Davis Ingle pointed to Trump’s election rather than the survey.
“The ultimate poll was November 5th, 2024, when nearly 80 million Americans overwhelmingly elected President Trump to deliver on his popular and commonsense agenda,” he told The Center Square.
Ingle said no president in history had accomplished more for the American people, citing work to “create jobs, cool inflation, increase housing affordability, and more,” and said the administration’s agenda “continues taking effect.”
Jessica Riedl, a budget and tax fellow at the Brookings Institution, said the economy has historically been a strength for Trump but that voters now hold him to the standard he set.
“Trump promised that on day one prices would sharply fall and economic growth would soar. Instead, growth is stagnant, interest rates are rising, inflation remains too high,” she told The Center Square. “If you brand yourself an immediate deliverer of stunning economic prosperity, voters will expect you to deliver.”
Riedl said the gap partly reflects a longstanding pattern.
“It has long been the case that voters rate the broader economy worse than their own current financial condition,” she said.
A rising stock market and low unemployment have softened how Americans feel about their own finances, she said, while “rising prices and higher interest rates eating away at their wages” keep their view of the overall economy negative.
The national trend echoes a state-level poll in Wisconsin. The Marquette Law School Poll, conducted Aug. 12-20 and released Aug. 26, found Trump’s job approval there at 40%, with 59% disapproving.
Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll, highlighted cost-of-living pressures in his analysis: 81% of registered voters said gasoline prices had risen over the prior six months, and the same share said grocery prices had gone up.
The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll was conducted by Noble Predictive Insights from Aug. 12-16, surveying 2,533 registered U.S. voters. The sample included 930 Republicans, 930 Democrats, and 673 Independents. Among independent voters, 330 respondents were classified as True Independents, or those who do not lean toward either major party when given the choice. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.0 percentage points.