Americans are losing trust in Trump’s government.
More than half of Americans (52%) are dissatisfied with how President Trump is handling the economy. This is 10% more than in October 2024, when only 42% disliked how he was conducting the economy. The poll was done before Trump announced this week that all goods going into the U.S. would be subject to a 10% base tax.
Americans are anxious yet want to see whether Trump will succeed
From March 27 to April 1, 1,500 registered voters were reached by text message for the Journal poll. The poll was released by the Wall Street Journal on Friday. It found that only 25% of people are happy with how Trump has run the country in his first 100 days in office.
According to the report, 54% of voters who answered the poll said they were against the president’s taxes on imported goods. On the other hand, 42% said they were in favor of the move.
Also, 35% of those who answered the poll said that short-term stress will actually make them more money in the long run. However, more Americans (48%) say that consumers will feel little economic pain before they see gains from tariffs.
John Anzalone, a Democratic pollster who conducted the Journal survey with Republican Tony Fabrizio said, “American voters give a president a little grace at the beginning […] They can have high anxiety about his economic policy and tariffs, and also say they want to wait and see. I think that’s where people are.”
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Trump says he is confident about his plan
Friday was the stock market’s second day of significant losses since Trump’s Wednesday afternoon announcement of up to $600 billion in new import levies. The size and extent of Trump’s tariffs astounded investors, who had already begun selling stocks in expectation of a worldwide recession.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2,231 points on Friday, losing 5.5% of its value for the day. The S&P 500 index fell 6%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 5.8% on the day.
The Dow is currently down around 15% from a record high of 45,073 set in December, the S&P 500 is down 17.4% from a February high, and the Nasdaq is down a shocking 23% from its December closing record.
Trump told Truth Social earlier on Friday that investors should buy cheap in the market and that he remains confident in his plan. On Friday, several of his staff publicly defended his policy, but Trump has yet to respond. It is now crystal clear that Trump is no longer moved by market crashes like he was in his first term.
Vice President Vance told Newsmax in an interview Thursday, “We’re feeling good. Look, I frankly thought, in some ways, it could be worse on the markets because this is a big transition.”
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He added, “We have to remember that for 40 years, American economic policy has rewarded people who ship jobs overseas. It’s taxed our workers, it’s made our supply chains more brittle, and it’s made our country less prosperous, less free, and less secure.”
However, critics of Trump’s tariffs claim that the president is putting the economy at risk by depleting average Americans’ retirement funds. They also claim that tariffs will lead to inflation.
For instance, Powell warned that Trump’s new tariffs on both sides were bigger and more extensive than expected, which increased the risk of long-term price rises. However, Trump told Powell to lower interest rates and said Powell was using the economy for political gain.
Not everything is going wrong.
An unexpectedly strong March jobs report was posted before markets opened on Friday. According to figures released by the Labor Department on Friday, the U.S. economy added 228,000 jobs in March. This sustained the unemployment rate, which stayed about the same at 4.2%. It is a lot better than the 135,000 jobs that economists thought would be added.
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