Donald Trump's Achilles Heel

Here’s a sentence that will haunt Donald Trump all day (and maybe longer):

“As markets slide and investors worry in response to Trump’s trade policies, a 56% majority of the public disapproves of his handling of the economy, worse than at any point during his first term in office.”

That’s from a CNN poll out Wednesday morning that paints a decidedly negative picture of how Americans perceive the job Trump is doing on the economy — long his biggest strength in the eyes of the public.

Remember that in the 2024 election one in three (32%) voters said the economy was the most important issue in deciding their vote. Of that group, Trump won 81%-18%. 81-18!

That was the election. Period.

That Trump has lost or is, at least, losing the economic argument so quickly into his 2nd term should be very worrisome for him and his people.

Especially because this is clearly a self-inflicted wound. Trump’s tariffs — and his willingness to put them on and take them off and put them on and take them off — have created huge amounts of uncertainty in the business world and a sinking stock market.

And, the CNN poll shows that it’s not just the business world that doesn’t like the uncertainty created by tariffs. The public is also unhappy with Trump and tariffs:

What’s fascinating to me about all of this is that the efficacy of tariffs are one of the very few things that Trump actually believes in — and has believed in for decades.

Which means that he may have to do something he rarely does: Choose between principle and politics.

If he chooses principle — sticking to tariffs — it creates a HUGE opening for Democrats.

“Dems way out of the desert is to continue to build trust with working people on economic issues & contrast with Trump on economy,” said John Anzalone, a longtime Democratic pollster (and wise man). He’s right.

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