Half of Americans in a new poll say President Trump’s policies have made the U.S. economy worse in his first seven weeks in office.
In a CNN poll released Thursday, 51 percent of respondents say Trump’s policies have worsened the country’s economic conditions, while 28 percent say they have improved conditions and 21 percent say they have had no effect.
Asked to rate the country’s current economic conditions, respondents in the March poll offer the same assessment they did in a January survey, conducted shortly before Trump took office for the second time: 28 percent in both polls say conditions are good while 72 percent say conditions are poor.
But respondents’ expectations of the economy a year from now have soured slightly, compared to the January survey.
In the new poll, 49 percent of respondents say they expect economic conditions to be good in one year — a seven-point reduction from 56 percent in January. Similarly, those who say they expect the economy to be poor a year from now is up seven points from the 44 percent who said the same in January.
The survey comes as Trump has set out to make sweeping cuts to the federal budget and workforce, as well as imposing and delaying steep tariffs against Canada and Mexico, two of the U.S.’s largest trading partners.
Asked how the spending cuts will impact “you and your family,” 51 percent say they will hurt, 22 percent say they will help, and 27 percent say they will do neither.
On how the cuts will impact “the US economy,” 55 percent say they will hurt, 34 percent say they will help, and 11 percent say they will do neither. On how they will impact “the area where you live,” 52 percent say they will hurt, 22 percent say they will help and 26 percent say they will do neither.
On Trump’s handling of helping the middle class, 43 percent say they approve, and 57 percent say they disapprove. On his handling of inflation, 44 percent say they approve, while 56 percent say they disapprove.
The March 6-9, 2025, survey included 1,206 respondents and had a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.