President Donald Trump is failing to sell his economic message to an electorate that thinks he’s making their financial lives worse.
On CNN News Central on Monday, data expert Harry Enten unpacked new polling by CBS News that showed voters are abandoning Trump because they believe he’s tanking the economy.
“Fifty-eight percent, nearly three in five voters, say that Trump is making them financially worse off,” Enten told host John Berman.
Just 13 percent of voters believe they are better off economically during Trump’s second term.
That’s a big problem, Enten pointed out, because Trump was elected largely on the economy, with 44 percent of voters in October 2024 believing he would make things better.
“Promises made, promises broken, in the minds of the American public,” Enten said.
“These are absolutely devastating numbers. The issue that got Trump re-elected, now the voters absolutely turn against him.”
The news of the dismal economic showing came as Trump was headed to Michigan to make a speech on the economy, in an attempt to better connect with voters.
Trump also has the worst net economic approval rating at this stage of a second term by a modern president.
Obama was at -14, and George W. Bush was at -26.
“Donald John Trump—30 points underwater!” Enten said, adding that the figure is “even worse than George W. Bush heading into those midterms back in 2006.”
In 2006, Democrats won a majority in the House and the Senate, and elected Nancy Pelosi as the first female Speaker of the House.
“I don’t know how this works for Republicans come the midterm elections,” Entern said.
Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which he has been attempting to tout as an economic powerhouse, has not been well received, sinking like a stone with Americans who are seeing higher gas prices, tariffs on imported goods, and rising healthcare costs all at once.
The White House, however, sees it differently. When reached for comment, spokesperson Kush Desai told the Daily Beast: “The contrast could not be clearer: the Democrat economic agenda created the worst inflation crisis in a generation under Joe Biden, while President Trump’s agenda unleashed historic job, wage, and economic growth during his first term. In his second term, President Trump is again implementing his proven agenda of success, and these policies are again creating more private-sector jobs, lowering costs, and accelerating economic growth.”
Another new poll out Monday showed many Americans are either unaware of what is in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or believe it benefits the wealthy more than working families.
The bill extends key parts of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts while adding new breaks, including temporary deductions for tips and overtime pay, an expanded child tax credit, senior tax deductions, auto loan interest relief, and government-backed “Trump Accounts” for children.
Republicans are trying hard to sell it as a win for working families, but if the polling is any indicator, voters aren’t buying it.
The Congressional Budget Office has also projected the new law will significantly increase deficits over the next decade.
