Trump Facing Growing Revolt from Key Voters Over Economy

President Donald Trump appears to be facing trouble with one of the groups that helped fuel his political rise: working-class white voters.

A new analysis from The New York Times found that Trump, 79, has seen a sharp drop in confidence among some of his most loyal supporters, especially when it comes to the economy.

The shift is especially striking because the economy was once one of Trump’s strongest issues with blue-collar white voters. Before the 2018 midterm elections, that group approved of his economic performance by margins of 30 points or more.

Now, recent polling shows many of those same voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy by margins ranging from 14 points to nearly 30 points.

“In the decade of Trump being in our lives, it feels like a watershed moment of them reckoning with him not being the person they thought he was,” Democratic pollster Molly Murphy, who worked on former Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 campaign, told The Times.

Trump campaigned in 2024 on a promise to “end inflation and make America affordable again.” But many Americans are still feeling squeezed by rising prices.

Gas prices have surged past $4.50 a gallon nationwide and have topped $5 in several states, including California. Grocery prices are also continuing to climb, adding more pressure on families already struggling to keep up.

Trump, however, continues to insist that his economic agenda is working.

During an Oval Office event on Thursday, he raised eyebrows when he said, “I love the inflation” after being asked about the latest inflation report, which showed prices up 4.2 percent from a year earlier.

He has also repeatedly dismissed the affordability crisis as a “hoax,” even as prices remain a major concern for voters.

Polls now regularly show that a majority of white voters without a college degree no longer approve of Trump’s handling of the economy. That is a major warning sign for the president, since that group has long been one of the strongest pillars of his political base.

The latest YouGov/Economist poll showed Trump with just 35 percent approval, while 60 percent disapproved. According to the survey, that marks the lowest approval rating for any president since it began tracking in 2009.

Some former Trump voters are now speaking out publicly about their frustration.

On MS Now’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki, several voters who backed Trump in 2016, 2020, and 2024 said they now regret supporting him, citing the economy and other issues.

“He hasn’t lived it to understand it,” Annette Dombrowski, a three-time Trump voter from Ohio, told the outlet.

Dombrowski said she is at risk of losing her job because the power plant where she works as a janitor is closing at the end of the month.

“I actually have panic attacks. I’ve had a couple this past week, and I get very emotional over it,” she said.

Chris Tackett, an Ohio truck driver who also voted for Trump in the last three presidential elections, said he feels betrayed by the president’s broken promises.

Tackett said Trump “backtracked on every single pitch point he had during his election.”

The frustration is not only coming from voters. Some Republicans are also worried that Trump’s sinking numbers could cost the party badly in the upcoming midterm elections.

Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who recently lost to Trump-backed Ken Paxton in a Texas GOP primary, told The Times that Trump is hurting the party with “self-serving decisions” and a demand for “slavish” loyalty.

Cornyn warned that Trump could be setting Republicans up for a midterm “disaster,” one that could lead to “the most miserable two years of his life.”