President Trump calls affordability ‘the work of Democratic fraudsters’
President Donald Trump called affordability a “Democrat scam” and “the work of con artists.”
President Donald Trump’s approval rating rose several points in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll after falling to the lowest point of his second term last month.
In a poll released on December 9th, President Trump’s approval rating was 41%, compared to 38% in a November 18th poll. The latest poll, conducted among 4,434 adults nationwide, had a margin of error of 2 percentage points in either direction. The disapproval rate was 57%.
This slight increase is at least partly due to improvements in respondents’ cost-of-living ratings, according to an analysis of Reuters polling data. The issue has come to dominate domestic politics in recent months, reaching a tipping point for the president’s party in last month’s off-year election. Democrats have won handily in several key elections, including the closely watched New York mayoral race, by running on affordable platforms.
President Trump has stepped up his efforts on the issue in response to the Republican Party’s poor performance in the Nov. 4 election and growing concerns about the 2026 midterm elections. In recent weeks, he has vowed to roll back some of the tariff hikes and combat soaring food prices.
According to Reuters, President Trump’s performance on the cost of living received an approval rating of 31%, one of the lowest popularity scores. However, this number is still up several points from last month’s survey, which was 26% in late November.
The president’s Republican base was a big boost in these latest numbers, showing a 10-point recovery in approval ratings for the president’s handling of the issue since the last Reuters/Ipsos poll in late November.
In the December poll, which was conducted over six days and ended on Monday, Dec. 8, 69% of Republicans rated President Trump favorably on the cost of living issue. Overall, 85% of Republicans said they approved of his overall performance as president. This number is up from 82% last month.
The Labor Department’s latest report, released in September, showed the inflation rate was 3% higher than a year earlier, up slightly from 2.9% in August.
Kathryn Palmer is USA TODAY’s political reporter. She can be reached at the following address: kapalmer@usatoday.com And to X@Kathryn Purml. Sign up for her daily politics newsletter here.
