MAGA supporters are worried at people’s mood 14 months before mid-term polls
By T N Ashok
NEW YORK: President Trump’s signature economic strategy is backfiring in spectacular fashion, transforming his promise to make life more affordable for working Americans into a growing source of voter anger that threatens to define his second term.
Seven months after returning to office pledging to “bring prices down fast,” Trump finds himself presiding over surging grocery bills, slowing job growth and an inflation rate that has erased much of the economic progress from his first presidency. His approval rating has plummeted to 43 percent, with 57 percent of Americans disapproving of his performance, according to a new NBC News poll.
The culprit is the very policy Trump championed as his economic cure-all: aggressive tariffs that he promised would simultaneously punish foreign competitors, protect American workers and generate billions in government revenue without costing consumers a dime.
Instead, the tariffs are functioning exactly as economists predicted — as a tax on American families that is driving up the cost of everything from imported beef to household electronics, while retaliatory measures from trading partners undermine the manufacturing jobs Trump vowed to restore.
The clearest measure of Trump’s economic miscalculation can be found in America’s grocery aisles, where prices have jumped 10 to 15 percent over the past year as tariffs ripple through supply chains. Families who voted for Trump specifically because they were tired of stretching their budgets now find themselves paying even more for the same cart of food.
“We were promised that China would pay for the tariffs, not us,” said Maria Santos, a Trump voter from Akron, Ohio, who works in manufacturing. “But my grocery bill has gone up $200 a month while my paycheck stays the same.”
The price surge spans nearly every category of consumer goods. Meat and dairy products, heavily dependent on imported feed and processing equipment, have seen some of the steepest increases. Fresh produce, much of it sourced from Mexico and Central America during winter months, now costs significantly more as importers pass along tariff expenses to retailers.
Even domestic manufacturers are raising prices, citing increased costs for imported raw materials and components that remain essential to American production despite Trump’s promises of supply chain independence.
Trump’s pledge to restore manufacturing employment — the cornerstone of his appeal to blue-collar voters — is also crumbling under the weight of his trade war. Rather than expanding production, American manufacturers are cutting hiring plans as export markets dry up and input costs soar.
The Labour Department reported that manufacturing employment has declined for three consecutive months, reversing gains made during Trump’s first year back in office. Companies that initially supported Trump’s protectionist agenda are now warning that sustained tariff battles could force layoffs and plant closures.
“We’re caught in the middle,” said Robert Chen, who manages a steel fabrication plant in Pennsylvania that employs 340 workers. “Tariffs were supposed to help us compete, but now our customers can’t afford our products because their costs have gone up too. We’ve had to freeze all new hiring.”
The broader jobs market reflects similar weakness. Unemployment, which had fallen to historically low levels during the pandemic recovery, has ticked upward for four straight months. Job creation has slowed markedly, with many employers citing economic uncertainty and higher operating costs as reasons for cautious hiring.
The one area where Trump can claim success is government revenue. Tariffs have indeed generated billions in additional income for the federal Treasury, temporarily improving the government’s fiscal position and providing resources for tax cuts aimed at Trump’s wealthy supporters.
But this narrow victory comes at enormous cost to the broader economy and Trump’s political standing. While Treasury receipts have increased, the tariffs function as a regressive tax that disproportionately hurts lower-income families who spend larger portions of their income on goods subject to import duties.
“The president seems to think that because tariff revenue is up, the policy is working,” said Janet Morrison, a former Treasury Department economist. “But that revenue comes directly from American consumers paying higher prices. It’s not China writing us checks — it’s American families funding the government with their grocery money.”
The economic contradictions in Trump’s policies are translating into serious political vulnerabilities that extend far beyond his traditional Democratic opposition. The NBC poll shows his approval rating on economic management has fallen to just 39 percent, a striking decline for a president who built his political identity around business success.
More troubling for Trump’s political future, only 41 percent of Americans approve of his handling of trade and tariffs — the signature issue that was supposed to demonstrate his negotiating prowess and economic acumen to voters.
The poll reveals a broader erosion of Trump’s outsider appeal. When asked whether they prefer “an insider with experience to get things done” or “an outsider who wants to shake things up,” 58 percent chose the insider approach — a significant shift from earlier polling that showed Americans more receptive to disruptive leadership.
Independent voters, who provided Trump’s margin of victory in 2024, are particularly skeptical. Only 8 percent express positive feelings about Trump’s presidency, while 56 percent report negative views. Among this crucial swing constituency, economic concerns dominate, with inflation ranking as the top issue for 45 percent of respondents.
Trump’s promises of a manufacturing renaissance appear increasingly hollow as plants across the industrial Midwest report stagnating orders and reduced investment. The same communities that embraced Trump’s message of economic nationalism are now experiencing the downside of trade wars: lost export opportunities, higher input costs and supply chain disruptions that make American products less competitive globally.
In Ohio’s Mahoning Valley, where Trump’s 2016 victory was built on pledges to restore steel production, several plants have announced hiring freezes. Local economic development officials report that foreign companies are postponing investment decisions, citing uncertainty about future trade policy and concerns about escalating costs.
The situation reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of modern manufacturing, which depends heavily on global supply chains and export markets that tariffs inevitably disrupt. Rather than creating the isolated, self-sufficient economy Trump envisions, his policies are making American manufacturers less competitive and less profitable.
The convergence of economic disappointment and unfulfilled promises poses the gravest threat to Trump’s political future since his 2020 election loss. Voters who supported him specifically because of his economic pledges now face the daily reality of higher costs and fewer opportunities.
With midterm elections just 14 months away, Trump’s declining approval ratings could presage significant losses for Republicans in Congress, potentially crippling his agenda for the remainder of his term. History suggests that presidents with approval ratings below 45 percent typically face severe electoral consequences in off-year elections.
Perhaps most damaging politically, Trump’s tariff strategy has created a feedback loop that undermines his central narrative. The higher prices that result from import duties provide daily reminders to voters that his core economic promise — to make their lives more affordable — has failed. Every trip to the grocery store becomes a referendum on his presidency, and the verdict is increasingly negative.
As one former Trump administration official put it: “You can’t convince people the economy is great when they’re paying more for everything and wondering why their vote for cheaper prices resulted in higher bills.” (IPA Service)
