Americans are far happier with the economic leadership of President Trump than they were under Joe Biden just a few months ago, according to a CNN poll released Wednesday.
While American households are still laboring under the weight Biden-era inflation, the worst in forty years, their opinion of the president’s handling of the economy has surged higher with the changing of the guard at the White House.
Biden left office in January with just 33 percent of Americans saying they approved of his handling of the economy, according to a CNN poll conducted by SSRS in January. A super-majority of 67 percent said they disapproved of Biden’s economic leadership.
President Trump now scores a 44 percent approval rating. That is higher than Biden scored in any of the CNN polls since December 2021. At this point in his presidency, Biden had a 49 percent approval rating on the economy.
CNN says its most recent poll was conducted by SSRS from March 6-9 among a random national sample of 1,206 US adults who were polled online or by telephone with a live interviewer.
The economy continues to be top of mind for many Americans, with 42 percent choosing it as their top issue from a list of seven. That’s more than double the share who picked any other issue.
There has also been a rise in how Americans feel about how things are going for the country generally. In the latest poll, 35 percent said things were going very well or fairly well, up from 29 percent in January.
The Department of Labor reported on Wednesday that the monthly inflation rate fell sharply in Trump’s first month in office, declining from 0.5 percent in January to 0.2 percent in February. This was the lowest rate of month-to-month inflation since last summer and better than what economists were forecasting.
CNN reported the gains in confidence in America’s economic leadership by claiming, without evidence, that “Americans are not impressed with President Donald Trump’s stewardship of the economy.”
There has been a partisan shift in approval of the president’s handling of the economy. While 73 percent of Democrats approved of Biden’s handling of the economy, just 7 percent approve of Trump’s performance so far. Only 5 percent of Republicans approved of Biden on the economy, while 88 percent approve of Trump.
Among independents, however, there has been a shift toward approval. In January, just 26 percent said they approved of Biden’s economic performance. Now, 36 percent approve of Trump’s.
