President Donald Trump is barreling toward the midterm elections with a vulnerability that\u2019s something new in his political life: Voters are losing faith in the Trump economy.<\/p>\n
As the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz drags on and US gasoline prices remain high, Trump\u2019s approval ratings have slumped near the lowest in either of his presidential terms. In particular, Americans have soured on his handling of the economy, a category that\u2019s usually top of mind for voters and had long been Trump\u2019s silver bullet in a career marked by tumult and scandal.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.moneyweb.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/457797868-555x384.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Public angst over affordability helped Trump win back the White House and hasn\u2019t gone away since. Data due out Wednesday is expected to show inflation back above 4% for the first time since the spring of 2023. The White House sought to show it\u2019s focused on the issue, touting bigger tax refunds for Americans and the abundance of domestic energy that it says will shield the US from a global supply squeeze.<\/p>\n
But this message has been drowned out by Trump himself. The president has frequently shifted the spotlight to other issues, like his White House renovations. He\u2019s vowed to stay the course in the war with Iran, which he started. On top of that, he insists he doesn\u2019t think about the resulting price spikes and doesn\u2019t care about the November elections where they could be a key factor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the president was being truthful when he said he really didn\u2019t care about the midterms. Quite frankly, he\u2019s got bigger things to deal with right now,\u201d said Mick Mulvaney, a former congressman and acting Trump chief of staff. \u201cBut House and Senate Republicans do care. And if gas is still north of $4 by Labor Day, everybody in town knows that means trouble for the incumbent party. Big trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.moneyweb.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/457626522-555x370.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTrump at a midterms rally in New York state last month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The White House declined to make anyone available for an interview or indicate what steps it is considering. Spokesman Kush Desai pointed to \u201ctemporary disruptions\u201d due to the Iran conflict.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe administration has never lost focus, however, on implementing the president\u2019s proven economic agenda on the home front,\u201d he said in a written statement. \u201cAs the Iranian terror threat is neutralized, Americans will again see cooling inflation, gas prices at multi-year lows, and accelerated economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Weigh heavily\u2019<\/span><\/h3>\nTrump and key aides, such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have leaned on the argument that energy prices will rapidly fall once the Iran conflict is resolved and Hormuz reopens. It\u2019s not clear when or how that might happen, with clashes escalating this month.<\/p>\n
But even if it does, energy prices won\u2019t automatically reset to where they were. Damage to oil facilities, and risks that the conflict could flare up again, will get in the way, according to Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM US.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think that the drag on the economy due to the war will weigh heavily on household consumption among middle-class, working-class and the working poor ahead of the November congressional election,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.moneyweb.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/457938529-555x301.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
For Trump and his party, the stakes are high. Republicans have a narrow House majority and are looking to buck history by avoiding the typical midterm swing toward the opposition. Trump has warned he may be impeached, like in his first term, if Democrats win the House. The GOP\u2019s majority in the Senate looks safer, since Democrats would need breakthroughs in conservative states such as Texas or Iowa to have a shot, but could still be at risk if the economic headwinds rise.<\/p>\n
Some of the data is ominous. Consumer sentiment is in the doldrums, and the latest reading showed a slump among Republicans and independent voters too. Inflation climbed to 3.8% in April and it wasn\u2019t just driven by gasoline: Grocery prices rose the most in almost four years, with further increases in the pipeline as the Iran war hits fertilizer supplies.<\/p>\n
Higher prices are eating into paychecks. Inflation-adjusted hourly earnings just posted their first decline in three years. Americans have less cash to put aside for rainy days, driving the personal savings rate to a multiyear low.<\/p>\n
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\u2018Lie down to sleep\u2019<\/span><\/h3>\nAll of this helps explain the recent profusion of bad polling numbers for Trump.<\/p>\n
Gallup\u2019s Economic Confidence Index hit the lowest point in his presidency, though it\u2019s still above the nadir under former President Joe Biden in 2022. A Reuters\/Ipsos poll found 73% of respondents disapprove of Trump\u2019s handling of the cost of living, up from 44% when he took office. And an Economist\/YouGov survey gave him an overall approval rating of 34%, his lowest ever \u2014 while finding that for two weeks in a row, almost two-thirds of respondents said the economy is getting worse.<\/p>\n
To be sure, there are saving graces for Trump and the GOP \u2014 including a corresponding lack of confidence in their Democratic rivals, who recently presided over the worst inflation in four decades. And there are economic indicators to belie the gloom.<\/p>\n
The labor market is stuck in what economists call a \u201clow-hire, low-fire\u201d mode, but jobless rates are low by historical standards. Hiring may also be improving. Employers added 172,000 jobs in May \u2014 capping the strongest three-month stretch in more than two-years.<\/p>\n
Consumer spending has mostly held up in the face of higher prices. One reason is the bigger tax refunds that Americans received, thanks to the cuts Trump pushed through Congress last year. That\u2019s where the president\u2019s allies want the midterm campaign focus to be.<\/p>\n
The economy \u201cposes a risk,\u201d said Louisiana Senator John Kennedy. \u201cWhen moms and dads lie down to sleep at night and can\u2019t, one of the things they\u2019re most worried about is the cost of living,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we have a good story to tell on what we\u2019ve done to address it through the one big beautiful bill, but I wish the president would talk more about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than tax cuts, the biggest engine of US economic growth has been the rush to expand artificial intelligence. It\u2019s a tailwind for the long-struggling manufacturing industry, which has seen the longest expansion of factory activity since 2022. It\u2019s also lifted the stock market to record highs, which Trump likes to cite.<\/p>\n
AI may cut both ways on the campaign trail, though. The US public is increasingly pushing back against the spread of data centers. And while corporate profits have surged, and stock-market wealth skews to affluent Americans, the slice of the national pie that\u2019s paid out to workers as wages or salaries is at an all-time low.<\/p>\n
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CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.moneyweb.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/457416668-555x284.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Some call this a K-shaped economy. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina sees it as a hurdle for his party in the midterms, and thinks Trump and the White House should be doing more to reassure voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to get out there and let people know that people are feeling pinched. I get it, rich people aren\u2019t. They\u2019re doing just fine,\u201d Tillis said. \u201cPeople that grew up like me are hurting. And if we don\u2019t resonate with those voters, it could have electoral consequences in November.\u201d<\/p>\n
The challenge is tougher because fallout from the Iran conflict has taken away some of Trump\u2019s core second-term arguments.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d regularly point to cheaper gasoline to wave away other cost-of-living concerns. Another example is mortgage rates: They declined steadily during his first year back in office, easing at least some of the public outrage over housing costs, but have climbed halfway back up again since March.<\/p>\n
Overall, the consensus view among forecasters is that Americans will be headed to the ballot box with growth slower, and prices higher, than they would have been absent the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne does not have to be an economist or a political analyst,\u201d said Brusuelas of RSM, \u201cto understand it does not bode well for incumbents and the governing majority.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 Bloomberg<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
#Trumps #economy #polling #slides #Iran #war #saps #superpower<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Donald Trump is barreling toward the midterm elections with a vulnerability that\u2019s something new in his political life: Voters are losing faith in the Trump economy. As the standoff… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[781,445,5008,7561,1848,4844,2257,446],"class_list":["post-6271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-economy","tag-iran","tag-polling","tag-saps","tag-slides","tag-superpower","tag-trumps","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\nADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n
CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018Lie down to sleep\u2019<\/span><\/h3>\nAll of this helps explain the recent profusion of bad polling numbers for Trump.<\/p>\n
Gallup\u2019s Economic Confidence Index hit the lowest point in his presidency, though it\u2019s still above the nadir under former President Joe Biden in 2022. A Reuters\/Ipsos poll found 73% of respondents disapprove of Trump\u2019s handling of the cost of living, up from 44% when he took office. And an Economist\/YouGov survey gave him an overall approval rating of 34%, his lowest ever \u2014 while finding that for two weeks in a row, almost two-thirds of respondents said the economy is getting worse.<\/p>\n
To be sure, there are saving graces for Trump and the GOP \u2014 including a corresponding lack of confidence in their Democratic rivals, who recently presided over the worst inflation in four decades. And there are economic indicators to belie the gloom.<\/p>\n
The labor market is stuck in what economists call a \u201clow-hire, low-fire\u201d mode, but jobless rates are low by historical standards. Hiring may also be improving. Employers added 172,000 jobs in May \u2014 capping the strongest three-month stretch in more than two-years.<\/p>\n
Consumer spending has mostly held up in the face of higher prices. One reason is the bigger tax refunds that Americans received, thanks to the cuts Trump pushed through Congress last year. That\u2019s where the president\u2019s allies want the midterm campaign focus to be.<\/p>\n
The economy \u201cposes a risk,\u201d said Louisiana Senator John Kennedy. \u201cWhen moms and dads lie down to sleep at night and can\u2019t, one of the things they\u2019re most worried about is the cost of living,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we have a good story to tell on what we\u2019ve done to address it through the one big beautiful bill, but I wish the president would talk more about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than tax cuts, the biggest engine of US economic growth has been the rush to expand artificial intelligence. It\u2019s a tailwind for the long-struggling manufacturing industry, which has seen the longest expansion of factory activity since 2022. It\u2019s also lifted the stock market to record highs, which Trump likes to cite.<\/p>\n
AI may cut both ways on the campaign trail, though. The US public is increasingly pushing back against the spread of data centers. And while corporate profits have surged, and stock-market wealth skews to affluent Americans, the slice of the national pie that\u2019s paid out to workers as wages or salaries is at an all-time low.<\/p>\n
\n\nADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n
CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Some call this a K-shaped economy. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina sees it as a hurdle for his party in the midterms, and thinks Trump and the White House should be doing more to reassure voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to get out there and let people know that people are feeling pinched. I get it, rich people aren\u2019t. They\u2019re doing just fine,\u201d Tillis said. \u201cPeople that grew up like me are hurting. And if we don\u2019t resonate with those voters, it could have electoral consequences in November.\u201d<\/p>\n
The challenge is tougher because fallout from the Iran conflict has taken away some of Trump\u2019s core second-term arguments.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d regularly point to cheaper gasoline to wave away other cost-of-living concerns. Another example is mortgage rates: They declined steadily during his first year back in office, easing at least some of the public outrage over housing costs, but have climbed halfway back up again since March.<\/p>\n
Overall, the consensus view among forecasters is that Americans will be headed to the ballot box with growth slower, and prices higher, than they would have been absent the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne does not have to be an economist or a political analyst,\u201d said Brusuelas of RSM, \u201cto understand it does not bode well for incumbents and the governing majority.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 Bloomberg<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
#Trumps #economy #polling #slides #Iran #war #saps #superpower<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Donald Trump is barreling toward the midterm elections with a vulnerability that\u2019s something new in his political life: Voters are losing faith in the Trump economy. As the standoff… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[781,445,5008,7561,1848,4844,2257,446],"class_list":["post-6271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-economy","tag-iran","tag-polling","tag-saps","tag-slides","tag-superpower","tag-trumps","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n
CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Some call this a K-shaped economy. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina sees it as a hurdle for his party in the midterms, and thinks Trump and the White House should be doing more to reassure voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to get out there and let people know that people are feeling pinched. I get it, rich people aren\u2019t. They\u2019re doing just fine,\u201d Tillis said. \u201cPeople that grew up like me are hurting. And if we don\u2019t resonate with those voters, it could have electoral consequences in November.\u201d<\/p>\n
The challenge is tougher because fallout from the Iran conflict has taken away some of Trump\u2019s core second-term arguments.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d regularly point to cheaper gasoline to wave away other cost-of-living concerns. Another example is mortgage rates: They declined steadily during his first year back in office, easing at least some of the public outrage over housing costs, but have climbed halfway back up again since March.<\/p>\n
Overall, the consensus view among forecasters is that Americans will be headed to the ballot box with growth slower, and prices higher, than they would have been absent the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne does not have to be an economist or a political analyst,\u201d said Brusuelas of RSM, \u201cto understand it does not bode well for incumbents and the governing majority.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 Bloomberg<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
#Trumps #economy #polling #slides #Iran #war #saps #superpower<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Donald Trump is barreling toward the midterm elections with a vulnerability that\u2019s something new in his political life: Voters are losing faith in the Trump economy. As the standoff… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[781,445,5008,7561,1848,4844,2257,446],"class_list":["post-6271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-economy","tag-iran","tag-polling","tag-saps","tag-slides","tag-superpower","tag-trumps","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}