Americans in a new poll said they are not feeling confident in President Trump's handling of the economy amid his administration's escalation of his trade war through sweeping changes in regulations for imports and exports.
The CBS News poll found that 52 percent of surveyed Americans said they disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy, while 49 percent said they approve. Fifty-six percent also said they disapprove of Trump's handling of inflation, while 44 percent said they approve.
Most respondents said Trump's focus is on the wrong issue, with 55 percent saying the president is focusing on tariffs "too much," while 38 percent said he is focusing the "right amount" on them. Only 7 percent of respondents said he isn't giving tariffs enough focus.
The poll was conducted after Trump's latest announcement of tariffs on foreign-made cars and auto parts. Last week, Trump announced he was imposing a 25 percent tariff on foreign-made vehicle imports.
On Wednesday, Trump is expected to lay out reciprocal tariffs on American trading partners.
Most Americans polled said they want Trump to put more focus on lowering prices, with 64 percent in the poll saying he isn't putting enough focus on the issue. Thirty-one percent said the president is focusing "the right amount" on lowering prices, and only 5 percent of respondents said he is focusing "too much."
However, many Americans still blame former President Biden for today's inflation. When asked whose policies were more responsible for the current inflation rate, 38 percent said Biden's policies, while 34 percent said Trump's policies. Nineteen percent said they blame both administrations equally, while 9 percent said they don't blame either.
Despite Americans' critical view of the economy under Trump, many praised the current administration's handling of immigration, with 56 percent saying they approve of how it is being handled and 44 percent saying they disapprove.
The CBS News poll was conducted with 2,609 U.S. adults interviewed March 27-28 and has a margin of error of 2.3 percentage points.
