Nearly eight months into the second Trump administration, turnaround has proven faster in some areas than others. Notably, President Trump continues to get negative ratings on the economy, despite high marks on most other policies. The latest Fox News poll finds Trump is 22-points underwater on the question of whether his policies have made the economy better or worse. Americans' overall ratings of the economy are even worse, with 71% still viewing it as negative. At the same time, Trump's gets solid ratings on other key issues, including immigration (47% support), crime (50% support), and border security (57% support).
Despite the overall negative ratings on the economy, a closer look at the numbers show Americans' outlook under Trump is improving on gas prices (+15 points), grocery prices (+8 points) and housing costs (+11 points) compared to Biden. And all of this comes amidst nearly constant negative coverage of tariffs and the economy by the legacy media since Trump took office.
Most of the media's doom and gloom predictions have turned out to be false, but until there's a dramatic turnaround from the policies of the past four years, voters will remain skeptical. "A lot of fundamental weakness has been built into our economy, given the failed economic policies of the Biden administration and the fact that Democrats largely controlled Congress and the purse strings," says Vlad Davidiuk, GOP political strategist. "So a lot of the issues we're seeing with the economy are really in just getting back to square one, before we're able to make positive gains."
Davidiuk believes Trump's economic policies and a more friendly Federal Reserve will ultimately lead to stronger results, but it won't happen quickly. "We have a globalized economy now, so it's going to take awhile for some of those changes to really take hold and show positive effects," he says. "It's going to eventually get where it needs to be, but it's a process that needs time to be allowed to mature."