Poll: Most Expect Higher Pric 04/24 06:42

   Americans' trust in President Donald Trump to bolster the U.S. economy 
appears to be faltering, with a new poll showing that many people fear the 
country is being steered into a recession and that the president's broad and 
haphazardly enforced tariffs will cause prices to rise.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans' trust in President Donald Trump to bolster the 
U.S. economy appears to be faltering, with a new poll showing that many people 
fear the country is being steered into a recession and that the president's 
broad and haphazardly enforced tariffs will cause prices to rise.

   Roughly half of U.S. adults say that Trump's trade policies will increase 
prices "a lot" and another 3 in 10 think prices could go up "somewhat," 
according to the poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs 
Research.

   About half of Americans are "extremely" or "very" concerned about the 
possibility of the U.S. economy going into a recession in the next few months.

   While skepticism about tariffs is increasing modestly, that doesn't mean the 
public is automatically rejecting Trump or his approach to trade. However, the 
wariness could cause problems for a president who promised voters he could 
quickly fix inflation.

   Trump shows vulnerability on the economy

   Three months into his second term, Trump's handling of the economy and 
tariffs is showing up as a potential weakness. About 4 in 10 Americans approve 
of the way the Republican president is handling the economy and trade 
negotiations. That's roughly in line with an AP-NORC poll conducted in March.

   Matthew Wood, 41, said he's waiting to see how the tariffs play out, but 
he's feeling anxious.

   "I'm not a huge fan of it, especially considering China and going back and 
forth with adjustments on both ends," said Wood, who lives in West Liberty, 
Kentucky, and is unemployed. "Personally, it hasn't affected me as of yet. But, 
generally, I don't know how this is going to come to an end, especially with 
the big countries involved."

   Still, Wood said he changed his registration from Republican to independent, 
having been turned off by Trump's attitude and deference to billionaire adviser 
Elon Musk. Wood voted for Trump last year and said he's willing to give the 
president until the end of the year to deliver positive results on tariffs.

   About half of U.S. adults, 52%, are against imposing tariffs on all goods 
brought into the U.S. from other countries. That's up slightly from January, 
when a poll found that 46% were against tariffs. Driving that small shift 
largely appears to be adults under age 30 who didn't previously have an opinion 
on tariffs.

   Trump supporter Janice Manis, 63, said her only criticism of Trump on 
tariffs is that he put in a partial 90-day pause for trade negotiations with 
other countries.

   "Actually, I think he shouldn't have suspended it," said Manis, a retired 
sheriff's deputy from Del Rio, Texas. "Because now China is trying to 
manipulate all of these other countries to go against us, whereas if he would 
have left all the tariffs in play then these countries would be hit hard. But, 
oh, well, things happen."

   Skepticism remains about Trump's tariff approach

   Not quite 100 days into Trump's second term in the White House, people 
around the country are bracing for possible disruptions in how they spend, work 
and live. The U.S. economy remains solid for the moment with moderating 
inflation and a healthy 4.2% unemployment rate, yet measures such as consumer 
confidence have dropped sharply.

   Trump has used executive actions to remold the global economy. He's imposed 
hundreds of billions of dollars a year in new import taxes -- albeit partially 
suspending some of them -- launching a full-scale trade war against China and 
pledging to wrap up deals with dozen of other countries that are temporarily 
facing tariffs of 10%. Financial markets are swinging with every twist and turn 
from Trump's tariff pronouncements.

   Many Americans are not convinced this is the right approach. About 6 in 10 
say Trump has "gone too far" when it comes to imposing new tariffs, according 
to the poll.

   Stocks are down this year, while interest charges on U.S. government bonds 
have climbed in ways that could make it more costly to repay mortgages, auto 
loans and student debt. CEOs are scrapping their earnings guidance for 
investors and seeking exemptions from Trump's tariffs, which hit allies such as 
Canada and even penguin-inhabited islands.

   Trump seemed to recognize the drag from tariffs as he highlighted this week 
the possibility of a deal with China. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had also 
said in a closed-door speech that the situation with China is not "sustainable."

   Widespread concern about rising grocery prices

   About 6 in 10 U.S. adults are "extremely" or "very" concerned about the cost 
of groceries in the next few months, while about half are highly concerned 
about the cost of big purchases, such as a car, cellphone or appliance. Less 
than half are highly concerned about their ability to purchase the goods they 
want -- a sign of the economy's resilience so far.

   Retirement savings are a source of anxiety - about 4 in 10 Americans say 
their retirement savings are a "major source" of stress in their lives. But 
fewer -- only about 2 in 10 -- identify the stock market as a major source of 
anxiety.

   "This whole tariff war is just a losing situation not only for the American 
people but everybody worldwide," said Nicole Jones, 32. "It's revenge -- and 
everybody's losing on it."

   The Englewood, Florida, resident voted last year for then-Vice President 
Kamala Harris, who replaced the incumbent president, Joe Biden, as the 
Democratic nominee. Jones hadn't given much thought to tariffs until recently, 
and now, as an occupational therapy student, she also worries about losing her 
financial aid and facing high amounts of educational debt.

   "Things are more expensive for us," she said.

   And most Americans still think the national economy is in a weak state.

   The difference is that Republicans -- who largely thought the economy was in 
bad shape when Biden was president -- now feel more optimistic. But Democrats 
have become much more bleak about the country's financial future.

   "It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, but we were doing fine," Jones, a 
Democratic voter, said about the economy before Trump's policies went into 
effect.

   **

   The AP-NORC poll of 1,260 adults was conducted April 17-21, using a sample 
drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be 
representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults 
overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.