60% Disapprove. 55% Say Tariffs Hurt. Trump’s Approval on the Economy Is the Worst in a Generation.

April 2, 2025 was “Liberation Day” — the date President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on America’s trading partners. One year later, the data is in. Pew Research Center reports that 60% of Americans disapprove of the tariff increases. ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos puts disapproval at 64%. An NBC News poll found 55% of voters say the tariffs have hurt the economy. YouGov/Economist shows Trump’s economic approval has dropped from 45% to 35% in twelve months. CNN found 69% disapproving of Trump’s handling of the economy — the worst recorded since they began asking.¹

The public’s view was negative from the start. It has not improved. The tariffs have survived a Supreme Court ruling, a reimposition under a different legal authority, a war in Iran that compounded the price shock, and a year of White House messaging. None of it moved opinion.

The reason is straightforward: Americans are paying more and they know why. Two-thirds of New Jersey voters told a Stockton University poll that tariffs have led to higher prices for them and their families. Nationally, 52% told Pew the tariff effects on their families would be mostly negative in the years ahead. The Consumer Price Index rose 2.4% year-over-year in February 2026 — before the Iran war drove gas prices above $4 a gallon. The Cleveland Fed forecasts March inflation at 3.25%.²

Small business owners have been especially vocal. A CNBC analysis found that U.S. states collectively paid $200 billion in tariff bills from March 2025 through November 2025 — with key midterm battleground states paying over $134 billion of that. Tim Smith, president of Hiblow USA in Michigan, said his company’s tariff bill hit $1.2 million in 2025. He stopped expansion plans. An Ohio farmer said the tariff aid Trump promised is “a slap in the face” because “it is money paid I spent on the tariffs as well as all American consumers.”³

The legal foundation of Trump’s tariff program collapsed on February 20, 2026, when the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the president cannot use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose broad new tariffs. The court held that “regulating commerce” during an emergency does not include the power to tax imports, which belongs to Congress. The administration quickly invoked a different statute to reimpose a 10% universal tariff — but that authority expires after 150 days without congressional approval.⁴

The ruling meant that much of Trump’s original “Liberation Day” framework was illegal. The reimposition under alternative authority is temporary, legally contested, and produces the same price effects that drove disapproval in the first place.

Ismet BELAOUEDJ / Unsplash — U.S. states have paid a collective $200 billion in tariff bills since March 2025. Small business owners say they have stopped expansion plans or shuttered entirely. The Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tariffs in February 2026.

The partisan divide is enormous but the story is in the middle. Among Republicans, 71% approve of the tariffs (Pew). Among Democrats, 93% disapprove. But the critical group is independents — and they have broken decisively against the tariffs. Fox News found 82% of independents opposing. An Ohio poll found 83% of independents disapproving. ABC/Post/Ipsos reported 72% of independents disapproving of Trump’s handling of tariffs.⁵

Even within the Republican coalition, the cracks are visible. ABC/Post/Ipsos found that among self-described non-MAGA Republicans — which include Republican-leaning independents who do not identify with the MAGA movement — a 55% majority disapprove of how Trump is handling tariffs. Only 43% approve. The tariff issue splits the Republican base in a way that few other Trump policies do.

The political consequences are materializing. An NBC News poll conducted as the Iran war began found Democrats holding a 6-point lead in the generic congressional ballot — enough to flip the House, where Democrats need just three seats. Voter interest is at levels normally seen just before election day, not seven months out. Democrats are more energized (74% rating their interest 9 or 10 out of 10) than Republicans (61%).⁶

CNN data analyst Harry Enten summarized the economic data bluntly: more Americans disapprove of Trump on inflation than disapproved of Carter or Biden at this point in a presidency. Trump’s disapproval on gas prices is higher than Biden’s worst. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called tariffs “their biggest 2026 liability.”

Some House Republicans are already breaking. Enough GOP members joined Democrats this week to allow votes challenging tariffs to move forward in Congress — a procedural rebellion that would have been unthinkable a year ago.

One year after Liberation Day, the verdict is in. Sixty percent of Americans disapprove of the tariffs. Fifty-five percent say they hurt the economy. Two-thirds say prices went up. The Supreme Court struck the program down once. Trump reimposed tariffs under a different law that expires in months. Small businesses have shuttered. Farmers call the aid a slap in the face. Independents oppose the tariffs by margins exceeding 70%. Non-MAGA Republicans disapprove by a majority. Democrats hold a 6-point midterm lead. And the president who promised Liberation Day has delivered the highest economic disapproval of any president in a generation — worse than Carter on inflation, worse than Biden on gas prices, and getting worse every month the tariffs remain in place.