Despite falling inflation, rising food and goods costs hit Trump’s approval ratings – Firstpost

President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to lower consumer prices that had risen during Joe Biden’s presidency, but he now faces the same challenge that Biden faced: Once prices climb, they rarely fall, and voters remain frustrated by the high cost of living.

Trump appears to be repeating some of Biden’s missteps, including downplaying how rising prices affect households and relying on corporate investment to drive job and wage growth., An approach that may take years to see results.

In recent days, including the beginning of a state visit by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump has repeatedly highlighted what he describes as trillions of dollars in new investment expected to create jobs. He also stressed that inflation is under control, pointing to relatively low gasoline prices as evidence.

“It’s exactly the same,” said Michael Strain, head of economic policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “The mistake they’re both making is not accepting the fact of life, the fact of politics, that the American people actually care about rapidly rising prices.”

Inflation has eased, but prices of all essential commodities remain high

Inflation has moderated, running around 3% annually compared with more than 9% at its peak under Biden. But goods — those particularly subject to Trump’s tariffs — cost higher than before, and many people’s wage gains have been largely offset by higher prices. According to the latest Consumer Price Index data, food prices are rising rapidly due to the items Americans prefer to consume, such as an increase of almost 15% for beef, 7% for bananas and more than 20% for coffee. Prices for tools and hardware – largely imported – are 6.2% higher than a year earlier, the highest in more than two years, while cleaning supplies like paper towels are 5.5% more expensive, the highest since December 2023.

Trump acknowledged this week that his approval ratings are slipping due to growing frustration over his handling of the economy. At just 38%, it is the lowest since his return to power, according to a Reuters/Ipsos survey.

Consumer sentiment falls along political lines

Other measures of consumer satisfaction are also low, largely due to prices. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index hit its second lowest level ever in November, with declines across all party lines. Voters for independents – a constituency that is vital to any party’s hopes of winning a national election – saw a record decline in November. Even Republicans were unhappy, reporting the biggest drop in sentiment in a year and a half.

Thanksgiving dinner represents the problem. The American Farm Bureau Federation estimates that turkeys will cost 5% less this year than in 2024 because of deep rebates, but the number is still 13% higher than in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. Other half-meal items, including sweet potatoes, frozen peas and a fresh vegetable tray appetizer, cost more than 2024.

Dissatisfaction with the economy led to Trump’s victory last year, but that support is not guaranteed, as seen in Republican losses in state and local elections this month.

Trump eyes tax cuts and pro-worker message in midterms

Eager to prevent further losses in the 2026 midterm congressional elections, Trump plans more visits to battleground states in the coming months, focusing on tax cuts on overtime, tips and Social Security, deregulation and lower drug prices that his administration says could boost Americans’ purchasing power. Administration officials said one stop could be Las Vegas, where Trump unveiled plans to cut taxes on tips.

“The President knows he has a proven economic formula that works. That’s what happened in his first term,” a senior White House official said this week. “It will take more time now.”

Tariffs on foods withdrawn as Trump demands quick fix

Tariffs are being withdrawn on some food items

Trump last week rolled back tariffs on hundreds of foods, including coffee and bananas, and also talked about sending $2,000 tariff-funded checks to low- and middle-income families. He also suggested that 50-year mortgages could make home ownership more affordable, an idea experts have criticized as more expensive in the long run.

Trump, a billionaire, was until recently dismissive of Americans’ concerns, Strain said, recalling his April comments when he acknowledged that his tariffs could mean American parents could buy only a few dolls for their girls instead of 30.

Now, he is considering new policies to more quickly address higher costs while pressuring the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, but few details have emerged.

Economists warn that prices could rise again if tariffs continue

Both Trump and Biden used the power of the government purse to get behind the expansion of manufacturing, but such investments take time to create jobs and sometimes fall short of commitments. Biden in 2024 announces a new $3.3 billion Microsoft data center in Wisconsin, where Trump years ago praised a $10 billion investment by Taiwan’s Foxconn that fell short of the promise of 13,000 new jobs.

Trump is also pushing for massive corporate investment in artificial intelligence, which could boost growth but also reduce human labor. Investors are also worried that an AI bubble is forming, which is another risk.

Trump and Biden both blamed meatpackers for high meat prices, and each looked for ways to reduce health care costs, another sore point, expect more announcements from Trump on this front.

As 2026 approaches, voters are feeling the costs outweigh the promises

eyes on midterms

Tisha Blackwell, 25, lives near Detroit and has seen prices for some foods and gasoline drop since Trump’s return. Things are still more expensive than they were before COVID, she said, and now she worries about health care costs rising next year, when her mother’s insurance plan ages out.

“I’m scared to see what health care rates will be next year,” she said.

Scott Lincicome at the Cato Institute said prices generally did not fall once they rose. He said, “The best you can hope for is that they provide some kind of stability and a salary increase, and then you’ll feel rich again.”

“Politicians want easy solutions. They want photo ops. They want ribbon-cutting ceremonies,” he said, noting that most Americans want drama-free, steady growth.

Many Americans also resented the tariffs, Lincicome said, but Trump showed no sign of removing them beyond select exemptions.

Lincicome said at a recent dinner with Wall Street CEOs that Trump also rejected his unrealistic forecast of 6% economic growth next year. Even reaching Trump’s top economic adviser Kevin Hassett’s 4% growth forecast would be a huge reach, he said.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund projects US growth of 2.0% in 2025 and 2.1% in 2026.

Ben Harris, a former Biden Treasury official who is now at the Brookings Institution, acknowledged that it was unfortunate for Biden’s team to call inflation “temporary.” But he said it is not credible for Trump to blame price pressures on Biden with nearly a year in office, especially as his tariffs, immigration crackdown and pressure on the Fed could be a recipe for fueling inflation.

“They should have expected this,” he said. “If your goal is to reestablish manufacturing, of course it’s going to be more expensive because the reason it was offshored in the first place was that corporations wanted to lower prices.”

Unlike 2019, during Trump’s first term, when tariffs on refrigerators and other items were quickly passed on to consumers, this time prices remained stable for a longer period of time, but Goldman Sachs and other banks expect a full pass-through next year, which could stoke consumer anger ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Big losses could be long-term, Harris said, as many international investors look to quickly hedge their bets. “The notion that you can be randomly charged because virtually everyone was at ‘Liberation Day’ causes business leaders and investors to say, ‘It would be irresponsible of me if I didn’t try to diversify away from the United States.'”

Still, Trump has continued to talk up his tariff increases, including nearly $150 billion in new federal revenue from the levies taken since his return in January and a promise by many countries and corporations to invest in new American manufacturing as a result.

“Our country has never been in a situation like this,” Trump said at a White House event with the Saudi crown prince. “And that’s really due to the fact that we use tariffs to bring in all this money, and you’ll see the results in a year when these plants start opening up.”

with inputs from agencies