With just hours before he hosts a rare prime-time address to brag on his first year achievements, new polling shows that America’s breadwinners are losing confidence in President Donald Trump‘s economy — including his MAGA base.
Facing stubbornly elevated retail prices, high mortgage rates, rising unemployment, and shocking winter energy bills, a new Zogby Poll of “employed adults” is raining on Trump’s victory parade.
Just 33% believe the country is heading in the right direction, while 54% do not, said the poll shared with Washington Secrets by Jonathan Zogby. “Employed adults are clearly downbeat,” he said.
Likely driving the pessimism about the economy are the cutbacks families are having to make to accommodate the higher prices.
The poll found that “83% report having cut back on spending due to rising prices over the past year, including 39% who say they have done so ‘significantly’ and another 44% ‘somewhat.’”
While gas prices have plummeted since Trump took office, other goods have remained expensive, the aftermath of sky-high inflation under former President Joe Biden.
Trump and his team have placed the blame for high costs on Biden, and they have promised better times in 2026. They are also blaming former President Barack Obama for the fat insurance premiums paid by those using Obamacare, the Democrat’s namesake program that was promised to reduce healthcare costs — and didn’t.
But Zogby found that the blame is shifting to Trump and that even his supporters are glum.
“Concerns about affordability remain widespread, cutting across demographic and partisan lines,” said the analysis.
“In assessing responsibility for current economic conditions, a majority of employed adults point to President Trump, including a plurality of Republicans. This highlights a persistent economic anxiety. Absent any economic improvements in affordability and cost-of-living pressures, these concerns could erode support even among the most ardent Trump voters,” said Zogby.
In tonight’s White House address, Trump is expected to talk up his first year achievements and lay out a positive path for 2026. His team is working to convince the nation that the so-called affordability crisis will be temporary, but even Republicans agree that he will have to deliver real economic wins to prevent a 2026 congressional midterm election wipeout.
Zogby told Secrets that Trump’s success or failure is in his hands.
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“If Trump fails to find a credible way to rein in inflation, reach a compromise with Democrats on expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, and drive meaningful job creation, he — like any leader of his party — will face serious political risk, particularly heading into the midterms. Trump may be a master at spinning narratives and diverting attention from unfolding crises, but household checkbooks and bank balances tell a more stubborn story,” said Zogby.
“Over the past several years, prices have risen sharply across essential categories — especially food, rent, health care, and goods affected by tariffs. If the economy improves, he will be cast as a hero. If it stagnates or worsens, the verdict will be far less forgiving,” he added.