President Donald Trump’s war has landed him in hot water with the American public, dragging him behind the very presidents he has spent years trashing.
CNN data guru Harry Enten, 38, revealed on Friday that Trump’s economic approval rating has cratered to depths “no president likes to make,” marking a stunning reversal for a leader who campaigned on optimistic economic promises.
Speaking to John Berman, Enten didn’t sugarcoat Trump’s abysmal stats. “Look at where he is today—way, way down there! Minus 32 points in the net approval rating,” he said, putting Trump dead last among presidents at this point in their term.
That’s a brutal collapse from just over a year ago, when Trump sat at plus 6. The roughly 40-point swing is the kind of political free fall that stands in stark contrast to Trump’s first term, where roughly half of Americans approved of his handling of the economy.
Earlier in his term, the 79-year-old hovered tentatively above water, sitting at plus 2 points. But that fragile standing evaporated after his decision to launch a war with Iran. Now eight weeks in, the conflict has torched that advantage—pushing his disapproval to 62 percent.
The economic fallout has been immediate and painful for Americans. Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have rattled global energy markets, sending gas prices soaring to a nationwide average peak of $4.17 per gallon. Jet fuel prices doubled in the early weeks of the conflict, forcing major airlines to cancel routes and others to consider shuttering their doors if prices don’t subside.
Inflation, which Trump promised to “end... and make America affordable again,” has ticked up 3.3 percentage points since the war began—further straining Americans already feeling the pinch.
“The economy was a strength for him,” Enten said. Now, “it has become absolutely an anchor that is dragging him down to a historic degree.”
Trump has long boasted that “they rate me one of the best,” while claiming Joe Biden, 83, was rated the worst. The numbers now tell a very different story.
At this point in his presidency, Biden—whom Trump has repeatedly blasted as the “worst president in U.S. history”—sat at minus 25 on economic approval. That’s seven points better than Trump’s current standing.
Former President Jimmy Carter—a frequent punching bag in Trump’s rhetoric—was at minus 22 at this point in his presidency. Trump once joked that Carter, 100, “died a happy man” because he wasn’t the worst president, saying Biden was. Now, Carter still stands roughly 10 points higher than Trump.
Inside the administration, there’s little sign of urgency. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, 61, has warned Americans not to expect gas prices below $3 per gallon until at least 2027, offering little reassurance to voters watching costs climb.
Trump himself has struck a notably casual tone about the crisis. Sharing that he was “happy” with current gas price trends and insisting there is “no time pressure” to wrap up negotiations with Tehran.
That posture comes even as the conflict shows no signs of cooling. In a fiery Truth Social post, Trump escalated tensions further, declaring he had ordered the U.S. Navy to “shoot and kill” any boats placing mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
