President Donald Trump is still above water in the latest Harvard-Harris poll taken April 9 to April 10, with 48 percent approving and 46 percent disapproving, coming at the height of market turmoil and volatility following his recently announced tariffs on China and the rest of the world.
That includes 85 percent of Republicans, 18 percent of Democrats and 40 percent of independents approving. More Democrats approve at 18 percent than Republicans disapprove at 13 percent.
On age, Trump is positive among working age adults 25-to-34-year-olds at 53 percent to 41 percent, 35-to-44-year-olds at 54 percent to 37 percent and 45-to-54-year-olds at 52 percent to 42 percent. The numbers go negative for 18-to-24-year-olds at 37 percent approving to 56 percent disapproving, 55-to-64-year-olds at 45 percent approving to 51 percent disapproving and those 65 and older at 44 percent approving to 54 percent disapproving.
And Trump is prevailing in the gender gap with 55 percent of males approving versus 41 percent disapproving. Whereas, 42 percent of females approve versus 51 percent disapproving.
Inflation unsurprisingly remains the top issue of concern in the poll — it’s been like that for three years — at 38 percent, above economy and jobs at 35 percent and immigration at 26 percent. That includes 39 percent of Republicans, 39 percent of Democrats and 34 percent of independents.
Trump appears to have inherited public attitudes on inflation that were reflected during the administration of former President Joe Biden, with only 41 percent approving. In the last Harvard-Harris poll taken prior to the 2024 election, in October 2024, only 37 percent approved of Biden’s handling of inflation.
This could be a type of sticker shock and could take years to die down. For example, personal income has been technically growing faster than consumer prices since January 2023, but it did not improve public attitudes towards inflation enough to make a significant difference for Biden and then former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 after Biden withdrew from the race.
By the time people voted, financially, they were not better off than they were fours years prior.
As it is, consumer inflation is now down to 2.4 percent over the past 12 months, seen briefly in September 2024 and otherwise the lowest since February 2021. During Biden’s term, once inflation crossed 5 percent in August 2021, so too did Biden’s approval ratings go negative, never to return.
But as incomes continue to outpace consumer prices, so too should the American people’s attitudes about inflation.
Key indicators like oil are way down, too, now trading at $61 as of this writing, down from $80 at the beginning of the year. Interest rates seem to be dropping this year, too, with 10-year treasuries at 4.32 percent as of now compared to 4.75 percent at the beginning of the year. That indicates market inflation expectations are falling.
The bad news for President Trump is that inflation tends to drop during economic slowdowns and recessions, which bring its own host of troubles including temporarily higher unemployment and likely lower approval. But politically those tend to be survivable when they occur earlier in presidential administrations. The good news is that with prices continuing to cool, the worst of the inflation could be behind us. Stay tuned.
Robert Romano is the Executive Director at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
Reproduced with permission. Original here: Poll: Trump Retains Positive Approval As Inflation Remains Top Issue Among Voters
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