Consumer confidence hits grim milestone that sank Trump's predecessor

Consumer confidence in the U.S. has continued to plunge under President Donald Trump's watch, and according to a new report from The Hill, it has now reached a grim milestone that once poisoned the presidency of the predecessor that Trump despises.

On Friday, Gallup released the latest edition of its Economic Confidence Index, a widely cited measure of the American public's sense of how well the economy is going. The news could hardly have been worse for the president: consumer confidence cratered to negative 45 points in May, a drop of 7 points since the last index report in April.

These are the lowest confidence numbers from Gallup since October 2022, when consumers were reeling from the historic inflation caused by the continued fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when gas prices skyrocketed just as they are now. The report did, however, note that sentiments remain higher than they were in the immediate aftermath of these issues taking hold in June 2022, for now.

That record inflation heavily tainted voters' perceptions of President Joe Biden, sending his economic and overall approval ratings into a tailspin that neither he nor his vice president, Kamala Harris, was able to recover from, paving the way for Trump's reelection. Trump and his administration allies are quick to blame any and all of his shortcomings on the issues they were supposedly left with from Biden, but now, the data shows that he appears to be digging himself into the same hole.

Trump is also contending with the fact that many of the biggest economic headwinds are of his own creation, including the chaos wrought by his tariff agenda and his war with Iran, and voters are increasingly likely to lay the blame for their financial misfortunes directly with him. Biden, meanwhile, was largely reacting to forces outside of his control, even if voters found those responses lacking.

"Only 16 percent of U.S. adults rated economic conditions as excellent or good, compared to nearly half who said conditions are poor," The Hill explained. "About one-third, or 34 percent, rated economic conditions as 'only fair,' according to the survey. The share of Americans who believe the economy is in good shape is now at its lowest level since April 2023, Gallup noted."

It continued: "Meanwhile, roughly three-quarters of U.S. adults also think economic conditions are getting worse rather than getting better. That figure has grown steadily throughout the year and is now at its highest point since May 2023. The data underscores how the war in Iran is affecting the way Americans feel about the current economic situation, as rising consumer and fuel prices squeeze their household budgets."

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