During last year's election, Trump focused on the economy, making "lowering the soaring prices under Biden" a key campaign promise, and ultimately won voter support to return to the White House. However, now Trump is facing the same dilemma as his predecessor: prices are high and difficult to fall, and voters have been complaining, which directly affects Trump's approval rating. It seems that Trump's "economic miracle card" may be failing!

Trump's "economic card" suddenly isn't working

According to Reuters, over the past few months, Trump has frequently emphasized that the U.S. will see substantial investments and a large number of job opportunities, while repeatedly claiming that inflation is under control, with low oil prices as the main evidence. However, U.S. policy analysts generally point out that Trump's narrative is similar to Biden's previous strategy. When it comes to the economy, they basically talk about investment and creating jobs, typical narratives, trying to convey a grand employment blueprint to American voters. More directly, it's essentially "drawing a huge pie" for voters.

But "drawing a pie" is just "drawing a pie". Both Trump and Biden have deliberately ignored the real feelings of the people about rising living costs, and have consistently downplayed the impact of price increases. Mike Strain, director of economic policy at the American Enterprise Institute, frankly said: the mistake both made is the same, which is not willing to acknowledge the reality of politics and public opinion, that American people care very much about the rapid rise in domestic prices.

However, there is a slight difference. The rise in prices during Biden's time was mainly related to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, which caused panic and supply shortages in the global energy and food markets, leading to a sharp increase in oil and gas prices and food prices, thus exacerbating inflation and increasing the cost of living in the U.S. Remember during the 2022 mid-term elections, Trump and the Republicans mainly focused on criticizing high inflation, trying to resonate with voters. And in last year's election, Trump continued to strongly attack this issue.

After Trump returned to the White House this year, compared to the Biden era, the global energy and food markets have become more stable. However, since April, Trump has started an "tariff war" abroad. Initially, the price fluctuations were small, but the consequences have finally come.

The prices of essential goods like beef have risen sharply due to tariffs

According to Reuters, although the current inflation rate in the U.S. has dropped from nearly 10% during Biden's term to 3%, the overall price level is still far higher than data before the pandemic in 2020. Especially in the goods subject to tariffs imposed by Trump, prices continue to rise, and some wage increases are directly offset by the continuously rising cost of living. According to the latest consumer price index (CPI), beef prices have surged 15% compared to last year, bananas have increased by 7%, and coffee prices have jumped over 20% due to Trump's trade war with Brazil. Prices of imported tools and hardware have risen by 6.2% year-on-year, the largest increase in two years. Cleaning supplies, such as toilet paper, have increased by 5.5%, reaching a new high since December last year.

These significant price increases in essential goods have given people a more direct sense of reality. With Thanksgiving approaching, the preparation of dinner ingredients directly highlights the pressure on the people. According to the estimate of the American Farm Bureau Federation, due to a significant drop in turkey prices, the cost of this year's Thanksgiving meal is 5% lower than in 2024, but the overall cost is still 13% higher than in 2019. Half of the side dishes, such as sweet potatoes, frozen green beans, and vegetable platters, are more expensive than last year.

Just as high prices eroded Biden's support, the same misfortune has now come to Trump. According to the latest poll by Reuters, Trump's approval rating has dropped to 38%, the lowest since he returned to the White House this year. The University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index shows a rise in dissatisfaction across political parties nationwide, with the November index falling to the second lowest in history. Independent voters set a new low, and even Republican supporters saw their confidence drop by the largest margin in 1.5 years.

Trump's tariff war is ultimately kicking himself in the face

As for Trump's repeated boasts about the massive investments, Reuters says that these things take several years to truly show results and let voters feel it.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7576199978977133090/

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