(CNN) — There has been plenty in President Donald Trump’s second term that’s proven politically unpopular.
But when it comes to what’s most significant for the upcoming midterm elections — and most problematic for Republicans trying to defend their congressional majorities — two charts tell the tale as well as anything.
Both feature a remarkably steady decline for Trump’s fortunes. And both now show him worse off than ever before.
The latest numbers come from new polling from CBS News and YouGov, which have frequently polled views of Trump’s handling of the economy over the last 18 months.
They also come as Trump headed to Michigan, a key battleground state, on Monday to promote his economic agenda.
Trump’s neglect on inflation
Early in Trump’s second term, the percentage of Americans who said the administration wasn’t focused enough on lowering prices was already high.
Back then, it hovered in the mid-60s, when the president seemed more focused on tariffs than kitchen table issues and inflation.
But the percentage of Americans who think the administration is not focused enough on lowering prices has risen steadily since then. And now, in the first poll asking the question since the start of the Iran war in late February, it’s up to 78%.
Just to underscore, that’s nearly 8 in 10 Americans who say the Trump administration has neglected what might well be the single most important issue to voters. It often seems difficult to get 7 in 10 Americans to agree on much of anything politically, but this is an even larger majority than that.
The percentage who say the administration hasn’t focused enough on this issue also includes 85% of independents and even a clear majority of Republicans (58%).
All three findings are new highs for Trump’s second term.
The poll question didn’t focus on Trump himself — it just asked about the administration — so maybe respondents had unnamed bureaucrats in mind rather than the president himself.
But this is a reflection of Trump’s presidency. And what’s most stunning is how steady it’s been. Trump hasn’t been able to do anything to temporarily juice the numbers in his favor. It’s a negative trajectory, with no end in sight.
The ‘financially worse off’ number
Ronald Reagan famously asked during his 1980 campaign against then-President Jimmy Carter, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
When it comes to Trump’s stewardship of the economy over the past 18 months, the answer to that question is not an encouraging one for Trump and the GOP.
The CBS poll has regularly asked whether Americans felt Trump’s policies were making them “financially better off” or “worse off.” And as with the first chart above, things have gone from bad to worse.
While 42% of Americans said Trump was making them financially worse off back in March 2025 — before Trump’s global tariffs were announced — that number has steadily climbed to 58% today.
Over the same span, the percentage saying Trump’s policies have made them better off has dropped from 23% to 13%.
So Trump has gone from 19 points underwater to 45 points underwater on that question.
What should sting more for Trump is that this was arguably one of the main reasons he was elected. Even as Americans had reservations about his personal character, they generally saw him as preferable on dealing with the economy.
In fact, CBS polling on the eve of the 2024 election showed 44% of registered voters expected Trump’s policies to make them better off. That was significantly more than the 30% who said the same of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
But today, just 13% of Americans say Trump has accomplished that.
And to be clear, this isn’t just Americans saying they’ve become worse off; they’re saying that and blaming Trump’s policies for it.
That was the danger of Trump effectively taking full ownership of the economy via his tariffs and the Iran war. And as the 2026 midterms get closer, there is no sign that either of these trends will get any better for the GOP.
The-CNN-Wire
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