CBS Poll: Trump Approval Goes Negative, but in Partisan Divide

Americans are less excited in the short term than the long term about President Donald Trump's tariff polices' impact on the economy, but the response are largely politically driven, according to the latest CBS News poll released Sunday.

Trump's overall job approval is now a 6-point net negative (47% approve, 53% disapprove).

Trump's 6-point negative overall job approval now was a 50%-50% split in late March and has flipped what was a 6-point net positive job approval (53% approve, 47% disapprove) after February.

And the overall feelings on the economy is now Trump's cross to bear: 54% say Trump's policies are more responsible for the state of the U.S. economy versus former President Joe Biden's policies (just 21%) or both equally (20%), according to the poll. Just 5% said neither is responsible.

But, like many things in money and politics, the narratives are driven by a partisan divide in the poll:

62% of Republicans say the U.S. economy is "good," compared to 32%.
80% of Democrats say the U.S. economy is "good," compared to just 17%.

Independents take Democrats' side there, as a large majority (67%) side with the left on saying the U.S. economy is bad versus good (27%).

Overwhelmingly, the view of Trump having "a clear plan for tariffs and trade" are etched in stone along party lines. While 91% U.S. Republican adults says Trump has a clear plan, there are 84% of Democrats saying he does not. Among independents, 43% see a clear plan, while 57% do not.

All told, a large majority of 59% see Trump's tariffs as a negotiating tool, while just 41% see them as a permanent fixture of U.S. trade policy, according to the poll.

While CBS News' analysis attempts to peg American adults as leaving Trump support behind amid fears of negative financial impact on them in the short term, there is a partisan divide on response for "when you can judge impact of Trump's trade policies?"

A 56% majority of Democrats responded "right now/next few weeks" on judging Trump's tariffs, while a 49% plurality of Republicans are willing to give the new president "a year or longer."

There is no clear position for independents making their judgments, as 38% side with Democrats' right now/next few weeks, 36% side with Republicans' year or longer, and 26% say "a few months."

The political opposition giving the president a short leash on radically changing the fundamentals of global trade should not be surprising, critics note, as Trump has no leash with Kamala Harris voters anyway.

But, amid the roiled financial markets and negative media coverage, Trump is seeing decreasing support on his policies impacting Americans' wallets. A 49% plurality now says Trump is making them worse off, a drop in 7 points since March (42%). There is also a slight decline – albeit within the margin of error – of those saying Trump policies are making them better off (21% now compared to 23% in March).

Approval on Trump's handling of the economy is sliding, too, amid market volatility, going from 3 points net approval after February to 12 points under water now:

Now

Approve: 44%
Disapprove: 56%

Late March

Approve: 48%
Disapprove: 52%

After February

Approve: 51%.
Disapprove: 49%.

The sliding scale for Trump's handling of inflation, though, reflects more of the market volatility and the negative media coverage than actual data, which showed this week that inflation is not only slowing but declining. As inflation curbs, the approval of his handling of it continues to steadily decline still:

After February