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September 9, 2025 | Press Release

Trump-Republican Tariffs Are Unpopular, Harming Americans, New Polling Finds

Washington, D.C. – Voters are souring on Donald Trump’s tariffs, increasingly viewing the added costs as “reckless” policies hurting their personal economic situation, new polling from Senate Majority PAC has found.
Forty-eight percent of all voters say the Trump-Republican tariffs have worsened their personal economic situation, and 56 percent believe tariffs are damaging the economy. Only 8 percent believe their personal economic situation has been improved by tariffs. Among 2024 swing voters, the majority – 57 percent – believe the tariffs are hurting the economy overall.
Notably, a majority of voters overall characterize Trump as a “reckless leader” regarding tariffs.”
“Trump tariffs are squeezing Americans — putting even more strain on families already struggling with higher costs,” said Senate Majority PAC Spokesperson Lauren French. “And instead of standing up for families, Senate Republicans are backing Trump’s reckless tariffs at every turn.”
The survey data is based on 10,305 responses, collected via an online web panel from August 27 to September 2 by Blue Rose Research. The poll was commissioned by Senate Majority PAC. More information on the polling.
Key Findings
  • 48% of voters say that Trump’s tariff policies have made their personal economic situation worse.
    • Only 8% say the impact has been positive.
  • By a 24-percentage-point margin (56/32), voters say that Trump’s tariff policies are hurting the economy overall.
    • Nearly half of 2024 swing voters believe Trump’s tariffs made their economic situation worse.
  • By a 12-percentage-point margin (51/39), voters say that Trump is a “reckless leader” over a “strong leader” when it comes to tariffs.
    • This is an even wider gap with swing voters – 50% say he’s a reckless leader, to only 32% who say he’s a strong one.
  • 21% of voters say that Trump’s presidency has been different from what they expected – up 3 percentage points since April.
    • Of this group, 62% say it’s been worse than they expected.
Read more about the data in The New Republic, ‘Trump Is a Weak and Failing President, and It’s Time to Say So.’

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