(The Hill) – President Trump is seeing a drop in economic approval as concerns rise over his sweeping tariff agenda, which he argues would revitalize manufacturing domestically, according to a new survey.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll, released Wednesday, found that just 37 percent of Americans approved of Trump’s handling of the economy — down 5 points since he returned to the Oval Office earlier this year. It is the lowest figure on the topic spanning both of his presidential terms, the pollster noted.
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Nearly 75 percent of U.S. adults said they are worried about a recession and more than half the respondents, 56 percent, said Trump’s retooling of the economy is “too erratic,” including about one-in-four Republican voters, the survey found.
The numbers also show that two-thirds of Americans said they are concerned about the impact of his trade war on the stock market. When giving the statement, “Trump’s actions could make it harder for me to live comfortably when I retire,” roughly 52 percent of U.S. adults said they agreed, while 31 percent said otherwise, according to the poll.
Trump has imposed a 125 percent tariff on most Chinese goods coming into the U.S., on top of an existing 20 percent — as well as a flat 10 percent tariff on most foreign trading partners. He paused the majority of his higher reciprocal tariffs earlier this month and has also suggested the import taxes on Beijing could come down after negotiation.
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Economists have warned that Trump’s tariff agenda could lead to higher inflation. J.P. Morgan said earlier this month that the probability of a recession remains at 60 percent, while BlackRock CEO Larry Fink suggested the U.S. could already be in one.
The president’s overall approval rating in the latest survey was 42 percent, still higher than what his predecessor, former President Biden, had for most of his four-year term. A recent Gallup survey found that Trump’s approval rating in the first quarter was 45 percent.
On handling the economy, the president still enjoys strong support from Republican voters and sparse backing among Democrats. The large majority of GOP voters, 81 percent, said they approve of Trump’s economic moves. On the flip side, only 5 percent of Democrats said the same. Among those outside of the two major political parties, 28 percent sided with Trump, according to the poll.
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Nearly half of the respondents, 48 percent, agree with the administration’s argument that the U.S. has been exploited economically by other countries for too long, while 34 percent disagreed with the sentiment.
The poll also showed that around one-in-three Republicans said the cost of living was going in the wrong direction. Three-quarters of U.S. adults, alongside two-thirds of GOP voters, said they are concerned with the Social Security system’s reliability as the administration continues its effort to reshape the federal workforce — with the help of the Department of Government Efficiency — in hopes of rooting out waste, abuse and fraud.
The Reuters/Ipsos survey was conducted from April 16-21 among 4,306 U.S. adults. The margin of error was around 2 percentage points.
