Poll: Trump's approval drops 6 points as majority says a recession is likely in the next year
President Trump's efforts to assuage Americans' recession fears don't seem to be going very well.
At least, that's according to a new poll from The Washington Post/ABC News, in which 60 percent of those polled said a recession within the next year is either very or somewhat likely. This is compared to 35 percent who said a recession in the next year is very or somewhat unlikely.
Trump in recent weeks has blamed the media for reporting on fears of a potential looming recession based on possible warning signs like August's inverted yield curve, and the Post reports the president has told his aides "that he thinks he can convince Americans that the economy is vibrant and unrattled through a public messaging campaign."
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But in this poll, not only are most Americans seemingly not buying into that messaging campaign, but 43 percent said Trump has increased the chance of a recession in the next year with his economic and trade policies. For comparison, 34 percent said he hasn't made a difference, and 16 percent said he's decreased the chances of a recession. Fifty-six percent also disapproved of Trump's handling of trade negotiations with China, one major source of recession fears, while 35 percent approved.
Trump's overall approval rating declined six points from 44 percent in June to 38 percent now, with 47 percent disapproving of his handling of the economy and 56 percent disapproving of his overall job performance.
The Washington Post and ABC News conducted this poll by speaking to a random national sample of 1,003 adults over the phone from Sept. 2 through Sept. 5. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points. Read more results of the poll likely to instill plenty of anxiety in Trump's re-election campaign at ABC News.
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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