Trump has vowed financial relief, but Americans say they’re struggling
President Donald Trump has pledged to end inflation and cut food costs soon after he takes office. This is what Americans are thinking in 100 days.
American consumers may be learning to live with inflation.
Long-term Gallup polls have seen a sharp decline in the share of Americans, who have dubbed inflation as the biggest financial problem.
Only 29% of consumers cited inflation as the highest financial concern for April, down from 41% in April 2024, are the lowest readings in the annual survey since 2021.
Another recent survey from the Ipsos Consumer Tracker found that few Americans believe prices are rising. Consumers’ stocks, which said household expenses were higher than a year ago, fell from 68% in February to 58% in May.
Is inflation still the best mind for American consumers?
However, other studies suggest that inflation remains very lingering in the minds of consumers.
A CBS News poll conducted in late May found that 76% of Americans said their income was not keeping up to inflation.
And the University of Michigan Consumer Survey, updated on May 30, found that Americans expect prices that double the annual inflation rate forecast a year ago will rise by 6.6% over next year.
Economists say American consumers have mixed feelings about inflation.
On the one hand, consumers consistently cite price increases as the concern of the highest households. This is a sentiment that goes back to the dawn of the inflation crisis in the 2021 Covid-19 era.
Meanwhile, throughout the four years of inflation, Americans have been spending. Consumer spending has been steadily rising between 2021 and early 2025 despite rising prices. (According to data released on May 30th, consumer spending in April was slightly slower.)
“We have had very robust consumers over the last three and a half years, but there has been a lot of inflation,” says Adityababe, senior US economist at Bank of America.
Americans had plenty of time to get used to inflation. Federal data shows that the annual rate has exceeded 2% per month since February 2021. The Federal Reserve has set a target of 2% for healthy inflation.
Sky inflation in 2021 and 2022 has long been gone. The annual rate has not exceeded 4% since early 2023. In April 2025, inflation was registered at an inconspicuous 2.3%.
“We are a great place to go,” said Yiming MA, an associate professor at Columbia Business School. “If you’re listening to the news, it’s not about inflation anymore.”
Economic fears in 2025 exceed inflation
For much of the year, other economic concerns have controlled the financial headlines of tariffs. Turbulent strain. instability in Social Security, the IRS and other federal agencies. Potential Medicaid reduction.
Many of these fears peaked in April. That month, President Donald Trump boldly deployed import tariffs.
“We’re looking forward to seeing you in the future,” said Bill Adams, Chief Economist at Comerica Bank.
Adams points out that Gallup voted for consumers in early April on financial concerns, as the tariff drama unfolded.
Of course, tariffs are widely estimated by economists to cause inflation.
Inflation has skyrocketed dramatically as the Trump administration pursued tariffs, according to a consumer survey at the University of Michigan. In January, the average consumer expected to rise 3.3% the following year. By May, the figure had risen to 6.6%.
That data point is also complex and highly politicized.
Is inflation still something? It depends on your politics.
Democrats expect prices to rise by 8% over the next year, according to data from Michigan in April. Republicans expect them to rise 0.4%. The numbers are the average over the course of three months.
The disparity suggests that Democrats and Republicans hold separate realities. Economists say one party expects Trump’s economic policies to succeed, while the other party says they expect them to fail.
“When you see consumer sentiment, there’s a huge partisan impact,” Stephen Juneau, a US economist at Bank of America Securities, told USA Today in March.
However, Americans seem to be almost united in the higher priced lighter da. Consumer prices are currently about 24% higher than in February 2020.
“The cumulative price rise over the past six months has been much higher than the price from 2015 to 2020,” Comerica’s Adams said. “And I think that contributed to this sense of dissatisfaction with American consumers about inflation.”
Before the current inflation occurred, the United States had not experienced an inflation crisis for 40 years. According to Federal Reserve data, the 8% annual inflation rate in 2022 was the highest recorded figure since 1981.
When do consumers forget inflation?
American consumers may have learned to live with inflation. According to Adams and other economic experts, here’s what they need to forget about it:
2% inflation
The Fed aims to target an annual inflation of 2%. It’s at a low level so low that consumers adjust it.
If annual inflation rates reach that range and stay there, most Americans don’t notice it, for Fed reasons.
“I think we need a slightly lower inflation extension, along with wages that are two seconds or a high second and exceed that inflation,” said Bhave of Bank of America.
Time to adjust
If the Fed’s target rate of inflation is eased to 2%, it may still take months for consumers to adjust to a permanently higher price.
“Compared to now, it’s not a while ago that I remember the cost of eggs in 2021 or 2021,” said Alex Jacquez, Head of Policy and Advocacy at the Progressive Groundwork Collaborative.
Consumer prices skyrocketed dramatically in 2021 and 2022. Prices continued to rise in 2023 and 2024, but not too sharp.
If inflation continues to cool and wages continue to rise, then there will be a day when prices will not appear to be that high, according to Jack and others.
“I think consumers can see inflation rates in places they used to be and they can see them adapting to prices as they do today,” Adams said. “But that will take time.”
