Poll: 77% Blame Trump Policies for Higher Living Costs

Seven out of ten Americans walking into a grocery store, filling up a gas tank, or paying a monthly utility bill are arriving at the same conclusion: the policies coming out of the White House are making it harder to get by. A CNN survey released Tuesday found that 77% of U.S. adults believe President Trump’s policies have increased the cost of living in their communities. That number includes a majority of Republicans. Only 8% say costs have gone down under his watch.

The poll, conducted by SSRS from April 30 to May 4 among 1,499 U.S. adults, carries a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points. Respondents were asked to identify which specific policies had hurt their finances the most. The Iran war topped the list at 75%, followed by tariffs at 65%, artificial intelligence at 46%, and changes to tax laws at 41%. The breadth of that list signals that Americans are not reacting to a single policy. They are reacting to an entire direction.

Behind the numbers is a broader picture of economic pain that has been building since Trump began his second term. Inflation hit 3.8% in April, the highest level since May 2023, driven primarily by rising energy costs. Trump’s economic approval rating has fallen to 30%, a new career low. On gas prices specifically, only 21% of Americans approve of how he is handling the situation. The data points toward a public that has grown not just frustrated, but convinced. And then comes the question of who they blame for it.

This article was created with the assistance of AI and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracy and clarity.

The War That Came Home in Every Utility Bill

When the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, global energy markets did not wait for a diplomatic resolution. Iran shut down access to the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply normally flows. Within weeks, Brent crude surged past $107 a barrel, up from around $70 when the conflict began. For Americans, the price shock hit hardest at the gas pump, but it did not stop there.

The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline reached $4.50 as of mid-May, up from roughly $3.16 a year ago, according to AAA data. That is a 42% increase in 12 months. Energy costs alone accounted for 40% of April’s Consumer Price Index increase, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists surveyed by LSEG had anticipated a 0.6% monthly rise; that is exactly what arrived, confirming the trend was neither a surprise nor a blip.

The White House has tried to frame the pain as temporary. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, according to the source reporting, that “as soon as this is over, you’re going to see gasoline and oil drop like a rock.” But economists are not as confident. According to Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, energy prices are unlikely to come down quickly even if the war ends, citing damaged infrastructure and persistent market uncertainty. For millions of Americans spending more at the pump each week, the promise of future relief offers little immediate comfort.

The Families Feeling It Most Have the Fewest Ways Out

Not everyone is absorbing these cost increases in the same way. A New York Federal Reserve analysis published last week found that households earning less than $40,000 a year increased their spending the least of any income group. But that is not a sign of financial discipline. In reality, they have just run out of room to spend. When prices rise and incomes do not follow, the math forces difficult choices between necessities.

The Fed researchers found that higher-income households reduced their gas consumption only modestly while increasing gasoline spending considerably compared with 2023. Lower-income households, by contrast, cut their actual fuel use far more sharply, potentially by carpooling or switching to public transit where available. Two-thirds of workers across all income levels told pollsters their wages have not kept pace with rising prices. Even among households earning more than $150,000 a year, 57% said their pay has fallen behind.

The weight of these numbers lands heaviest on the people with the least cushion. Three-quarters of Americans told CNN they believe the economic system unfairly favors the powerful over everyone else. Nearly 7 in 10 expect a recession within the next year. James McCann, senior economist at Edward Jones, said American households “continue to feel the brunt of surging energy costs, adding to the deluge of inflation they have weathered since the pandemic.” The accumulated weight of that frustration is no longer just economic. It is political.

An Election Forming Around a Kitchen Table

Affordability has emerged as the defining lens through which voters say they will evaluate the 2026 midterm elections. In the CNN poll, 55% of respondents named the economy and cost of living as the single most important issue facing the country, more than double the share who named any other issue. Democrats are now trusted over Republicans on cost of living by a 9-point margin, a reversal from the Biden years, when economic anxiety benefited the GOP. The political map is shifting beneath both parties.

The picture is more complicated than a single number suggests. 57% of CNN survey respondents said other political issues matter at least as much as the economy heading into November. Americans are split on whether the midterm results will even change their financial situation, with 49% expecting no difference and 50% believing it would have a significant impact. That division reflects a public that is angry, but not yet unified around what to do with that anger or where to direct it.

What the polling cannot resolve is whether sustained disapproval translates into sustained political consequence. History suggests the president’s party loses seats in midterms regardless, but redistricting, structural ballot dynamics, and voter turnout will shape what that actually means in November. What is clear is that for a president who ran on lowering costs, a 77% verdict from the public carries an unmistakable weight. The open question now is not whether Americans feel the squeeze. It is whether they will decide, six months from now, that it matters enough to change who holds power.