In a rare moment of near-national unity, Americans are decisively rejecting President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
That’s according to CNN’s top data guru Harry Enten, who was stunned Monday over new polling showing the broad disapproval of Trump’s trade war.
“They have turned against tariffs the same way college football pundits have turned against Arch Manning after his performance in Columbus on Saturday,” Enten quipped.
In November, Americans were almost evenly-split on the issue—52 percent of voters supported tariffs versus 48 percent opposed. Now, three of every five polling respondents are against tariffs on imported goods, Enten said, calling it “opposition like a rocket!”
Enten said the backlash stems from short term costs. A whopping 77 percent now believe tariffs raise prices in the short term, compared to just 4 percent who think they lower them.
While Trump has long acknowledged that his tariffs may bring temporary pain for American consumers, he has argued it will benefit them in the long term.
But it seems Americans lost confidence in that theory: 50 percent still expect higher costs in the long term and just 25 percent think prices will fall.
The political implications of such negative sentiment could spell trouble for the president, Enten said, citing a recent Fox News poll found tariffs and the economy are now the top reasons Trump critics disapprove of his performance.
The stunning polling numbers come days after U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that Trump’s keystone economic policy exceeded his presidential authority.
The tariffs will remain in place until Oct. 14, and the Trump administration will likely appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trump dismissed the court’s decision as a “total disaster” on Truth Social Friday, asserting that the removal or mitigation of current levees would “literally destroy” the United States, and vowed to appeal the ruling.
In the meantime, “ALL TARIFFS ARE STILL IN EFFECT,” the president wrote.
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