{"id":7406,"date":"2026-07-28T08:05:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T08:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=7406"},"modified":"2026-07-28T08:05:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T08:05:37","slug":"the-gops-2026-trump-problem-in-2-charts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=7406","title":{"rendered":"The GOP\u2019s 2026 Trump problem, in 2 charts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

\n There has been plenty in President Donald Trump\u2019s second term that\u2019s proven politically unpopular.\n <\/p>\n

Read more Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear\u2019s message to Sen. Mitch McConnell: Disclose more about health or resign<\/a><\/p>\n

\n But when it comes to what\u2019s most significant for the upcoming midterm elections \u2014 and most problematic for Republicans trying to defend their congressional majorities \u2014 two charts tell the tale as well as anything.\n <\/p>\n

\n Both feature a remarkably steady decline for Trump\u2019s fortunes. And both now show him worse off than ever before.\n <\/p>\n

\n The latest numbers come from new polling from CBS News and YouGov, which have frequently polled views of Trump\u2019s handling of the economy over the last 18 months.\n <\/p>\n

\n They also come as Trump headed to Michigan, a key battleground state, on Monday to promote his economic agenda.\n <\/p>\n

\n Trump\u2019s neglect on inflation
\n<\/h2>\n

\n Early in Trump\u2019s second term, the percentage of Americans who said the administration wasn\u2019t focused enough on lowering prices was already high.\n <\/p>\n

\n Back then, it hovered in the mid-60s, when the president seemed more focused on tariffs than kitchen table issues and inflation.\n <\/p>\n

\n 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\u2019s up to 78%<\/em>.\n <\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\n Just to underscore, that\u2019s 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.\n <\/p>\n

\n The percentage who say the administration hasn\u2019t focused enough on this issue also includes 85% of independents and even a clear majority of Republicans (58%).\n <\/p>\n

\n All three findings are new highs for Trump\u2019s second term.\n <\/p>\n

\n The poll question didn\u2019t focus on Trump himself \u2014 it just asked about the administration \u2014 so maybe respondents had unnamed bureaucrats in mind rather than the president himself.\n <\/p>\n

\n But this is a reflection of Trump\u2019s presidency. And what\u2019s most stunning is how steady it\u2019s been. Trump hasn\u2019t been able to do anything to temporarily juice the numbers in his favor. It\u2019s a negative trajectory, with no end in sight.\n <\/p>\n

Read more Newly released Biden audio recordings include references to \u2018classified\u2019 material and struggles with memory<\/a><\/p>\n

\n The \u2018financially worse off\u2019 number
\n<\/h2>\n

\n Ronald Reagan famously asked during his 1980 campaign against then-President Jimmy Carter, \u201cAre you better off than you were four years ago?\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n When it comes to Trump\u2019s stewardship of the economy over the past 18 months, the answer to that question is not an encouraging one for Trump and the GOP.\n <\/p>\n

\n The CBS poll has regularly asked whether Americans felt Trump\u2019s policies were making them \u201cfinancially better off\u201d or \u201cworse off.\u201d And as with the first chart above, things have gone from bad to worse.\n <\/p>\n

\n While 42% of Americans said Trump was making them financially worse off \u2014 before Trump\u2019s global tariffs were announced \u2014 that number has steadily climbed to 58% today.\n <\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\n Over the same span, the percentage saying Trump\u2019s policies have made them better off has dropped from 23% to 13%.\n <\/p>\n

\n So Trump has gone from 19 points underwater to 45 points underwater on that question.\n <\/p>\n

\n 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.\n <\/p>\n

\n In fact, CBS polling on the eve of the 2024 election showed Trump\u2019s policies to make them better off. That was significantly more than the 30% who said the same of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.\n <\/p>\n

\n But today, just 13% of Americans say Trump has accomplished that.\n <\/p>\n

\n And to be clear, this isn\u2019t just Americans saying they\u2019ve become worse off; they\u2019re saying that and blaming Trump\u2019s policies<\/em> for it.\n <\/p>\n

\n 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.\n <\/p>\n

Read more Stevens and El-Sayed trade personal attacks and other takeaways from the Michigan Senate primary debate<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two charts show how President Donald Trump\u2019s handling of the economy could be problematic for Republicans trying to defend their majority in the midterms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nThe GOP\u2019s 2026 Trump problem, in 2 charts - Relocation Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=7406\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The GOP\u2019s 2026 Trump problem, in 2 charts - Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two charts show how President Donald Trump\u2019s handling of the economy could be problematic for Republicans trying to defend their majority in the midterms.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=7406\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-28T08:05:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=7406#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=7406\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3d25fb966f660ab012820a9e0acc09be\"},\"headline\":\"The GOP\u2019s 2026 Trump problem, in 2 charts\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-28T08:05:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=7406\"},\"wordCount\":727,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=7406#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b5ccb08d4e803e08479cfed52c6851c7.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=7406#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=7406\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationtimess.com\\\/?p=7406\",\"name\":\"The GOP\u2019s 2026 Trump problem, in 2 charts - 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