The cost of living in America is projected to rise because of President Trump\u2019s latest round of tariffs, and that\u2019s a political problem for the president and Republican lawmakers in Washington, who campaigned in 2024 on bringing down the cost of groceries and other staples, a message that resonated strongly with voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than six months into Trump\u2019s second term, however, the costs of groceries, and other essential goods, such as cars, have continued to rise, corresponding with a drop in Trump\u2019s job approval rating and a souring public view of Trump\u2019s handling of the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cost of even \u201ccheap\u201d eats has become fodder for debate on social media, as people grumble about everything from the price of McDonald\u2019s hash browns<\/u><\/a> to Coca-Cola<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The price of eggs<\/u><\/a> has come down in recent months, but a dozen are still, on average, 64 cents more expensive than a year ago, while the price of chicken, ground beef and orange juice were more expensive last month compared to a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index has stabilized at 2.7 percent<\/u><\/a>, policymakers fear the prices of goods and services could spike up again, which is a big reason the Federal Reserve is hesitant to cut interest rates, a major point of tension between Fed Chair Jerome Powell\u2002<\/u><\/a>and Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump\u2019s tariffs<\/u><\/a> are expected to put upward pressure on costs. Experts project the higher fees on goods from Canada, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and other major trading partners could cost the average family of four an additional $2,400 or more in annual expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Republican strategist who requested anonymity said Republicans need to be careful that inflation and costs don\u2019t become an anchor on their candidates in next year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s why Trump\u2019s beating that Fed rate cut like a dead horse,\u201d the strategist quipped, referring to the immense pressure the president has put on the Fed to cut rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The strategist explained that while spurring the economy by making money cheaper to borrow might increase inflation over the long term, it will give voters a sense that the economy and their income-earning ability is on the rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vin Weber,<\/u><\/a> a Republican strategist and former member of the House GOP leadership, said while some voters might hope to see prices come down, he warned that is extremely difficult for any president to accomplish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think that we\u2019ve made a mistake as Republicans a little bit, in talking about bringing down costs. Bringing an end to inflation but actually reducing prices is a lot more difficult,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can do that with some things, like certain commodities like gasoline. But broadly speaking, to say we\u2019re going to bring down prices, it\u2019s very, very difficult and not necessarily desirable. In traditional economic terms, prices coming down is deflation and is usually identified with a recession,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republican strategists say the \u201cjury is still out\u201d on what the economy will look like a year from now when the battle for control of Congress heats up, but they warn that Republicans\u2019 political fortunes will ride on how voters view their own ability to keep up in a world that gets more expensive every month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe two most important reasons why Donald Trump\u2002<\/u><\/a>won the presidency in 2024 were to bring down inflation and juice the economy. The progress on those two efforts will go a long way toward determining the president\u2019s job approval and the fortunes of Republicans going forward,\u201d said Whit Ayres, a leading Republican pollster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s been a tremendous amount of attention paid to the [Jeffrey] Epstein case, but progress on inflation and economic growth will be far more important than the Epstein case to the vast majority of Americans,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ayres said polls show voters increasingly view the economy as Trump\u2019s economy, a perception that took hold after Trump announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs on most countries on April 2, \u201cLiberation Day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPolls show increasingly that the status of the economy is due to policies adopted during the Trump administration rather than those adopted in the Biden\u2002<\/u><\/a>administration. That has been the case ever since Liberation Day on April 2 with the tariff announcement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Gallup poll<\/u><\/a> of 1,002 adults nationwide last month found Trump\u2019s job approval rating has dipped to 37 percent, and that his approval rating on the economy has dropped from 41 percent in March to 37 percent last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A University of Massachusetts Amherst poll of 1,000 respondents conducted July 25-30 also found Trump with a 38 percent job approval rating and a 58 percent disapproval rating. Respondents in that poll gave Trump a 37 percent approval rating on \u201cjobs\u201d and a 31 percent approval rating on \u201ctariffs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That has Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill feeling nervous about the latest round of tariffs Trump imposed on foreign trading partners last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An analysis by the Yale Budget Lab projects Trump\u2019s tariffs could increase prices by 1.8 percent in the short term and cost the average American household $2,400 per year. The nonpartisan research group calculates that consumers face an average effective tariff rate of 18.6 percent, the highest since 1933.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This has some Republicans in Congress worried about a political backlash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n