President Donald Trump’s majority in the House and Senate is in serious jeopardy if Americans vote with their wallets in the midterms.
A devastating new CNN poll has revealed that 77 percent of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, blame Trump’s policies for recent cost-of-living increases—a belief bolstered by a report on Tuesday that revealed inflation is up 3.8 percent from a year ago.
Disapproval of Trump’s handling of the economy reached an all-time high in the survey, which was conducted between April 30 and May 4. It found that 70 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy—up from 56 percent in March 2025 and 44 percent in the dying days of his first term.
CNN reports a “surge” in people naming high prices and the cost of living as the top economic problem facing their family, to the point that seven in 10 Americans believe a recession will begin in the next year.
Trump has claimed that the affordability crisis is a Democrat-induced “con job.” Similarly, the president, who Forbes estimates is worth $6.2 billion, dismissed criticism in March by saying he was not concerned about gas prices spiking. He said at the time: “If they rise, they rise.”
Gas prices have certainly risen since then. The average cost of a gallon remains above $4.50 as of Tuesday, up from $2.90 a gallon on Feb. 28, the day Trump began a war with Iran.
These high gas prices have Americans cutting back elsewhere.
CNN’s survey found that 61 percent of Americans have changed their grocery store habits in recent months to cut back on spending. Fifty-nine percent reported cutting their entertainment budget in the same period. Forty-nine percent say they have “cut back significantly” on how much they are driving.
The poll, conducted in partnership with SSRS, also found that nearly one in three Americans has had to purchase necessities using a credit card just to survive—and 27 percent have had to take on extra work or even a second job to get by.
Three in every four respondents told CNN they believe war with Iran has hurt their financial situation.
This economic pain comes despite American wages increasing by 3.6 percent in the last year.
Reached for comment, a White House spokesman claimed that economic “disruptions” from Trump’s war with Iran are temporary.
“President Trump was resoundingly re-elected to the White House precisely because he understood how Americans were left behind by Joe Biden’s economic disaster, and restoring prosperity for everyday Americans has accordingly been a Day One priority for this Administration,” said the spokesman, Kush Desai.
He continued, “While the President has been clear about short-term disruptions as a result of Operation Epic Fury, the Administration is focused on implementing the proven Trump agenda of tax cuts, deregulation, and energy abundance to keep America on a solid economic trajectory.”
A person from Indiana surveyed by the network summed up the situation that many are feeling across the country, saying, “We are making the most money we have ever made, yet we have the least financial freedom we have ever experienced due to the increasing prices.”
A Republican woman in her 20s added, “Me and my husband work 12-hour days 5-6 days a week, and we have to decide if we’re gonna buy groceries or pay for gas.”
Another Republican in his 20s told CNN: “I don’t know how anyone from my generation will ever do anything except rent.”
