President Donald Trump’s handling of inflation has him polling worse on the matter than inflation-struck former presidents Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden.
CNN’s data guru, Harry Enten, said Wednesday that Trump’s disapproval rating on inflation has reached a whopping 72 percent, making him less popular than Biden (68 percent) and Carter (66 percent) at this point in their presidential terms on the issue.
“Whenever you have Joe Biden and Jimmy Carter on the board, and you’re matching them or slightly exceeding them when it comes to inflation, you know it’s bad,” Enten said. “Oh my goodness gracious, what a disaster.”
Enten continued, “This is no April Fool’s joke. This is a disaster. All these numbers are a disaster for President Trump.”
The other numbers Enten was referencing include a new CNN poll’s finding that just 31 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s job on the economy.
Accelerating Trump’s plunge in favorability is sky-high gas prices. An average gallon now costs $4.06, the highest it has been since 2022. These prices have led three in every four Americans to disapprove of Trump’s handling of gas prices, according to the CNN survey.
“It’s like a pancake tower, and you’re just reaching the top,” Enten said of the figures. “This is not the tower you want to climb.”
Enten noted that prediction markets expect things to get worse before they get better. Kalshi gives a 65 percent chance of inflation rising above four percent at any point this year. Inflation has not exceeded four percent since 2023, when the issue became a major attack point for Trump and other Republicans against Biden.
“The inflation tower that we’re going up, it seems like there are more steps on the stairway—certainly not to heaven—more like hell, if you’re the president of the United States,” Enten said.
Trump’s war with Iran, which has no end point in sight, has caused volatility across the economy since the first strikes on Iran were ordered on Feb. 28.
The Dow proceeded to fall by more than 5% in March, with the S&P 500 posting its worst monthly performance since 2022.
Trump has offered mixed messaging on the war, the military’s goals, and the timeline for its conclusion. More answers may be offered in his 9 p.m. primetime address to the nation on Wednesday.
