'Signals flashing red': Republicans fear Trump's economy 'could cost them dearly'
Axios' Zachary Basu reports President Donald Trump's effort to “rebrand the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act can't mask a grim reality: His economic approval is collapsing, and the data underneath is only getting worse.”
“Trump is in danger of getting trapped in the same ‘vibecession’ dynamic that doomed President [Joe] Biden — only this time, the structural signals are flashing red and Trump's signature legislation is toxic," he wrote.
According to the outlet, Republicans are already panicking, fearing “inflation could cost them dearly in the 2026 midterms, warning Trump has only a few months to reset his trajectory on voters' most important issue.”
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Pollster G. Elliott Morris puts Trump's approval rating on inflation and the cost of living at -24, nearing Biden's lows during the peak of the 2022–23 price surge. His favorability on jobs and the economy overall is better, but still underwater at -13.
CNN’s Harry Enten described Trump’s -13 rating on jobs and unemployment as “a 24 point drop since January of 2025. “Biden … was in the basement. and yet Donald Trump is even lower down than him,” Enten said. “You can barely get an elevator that goes that low.”
Meanwhile the worst that Trump can do appears to already be done with the passage of his budget bill, meaning “Trump has few levers left to pull,” Axios reports.
“Poll after poll shows Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill Act — which extended his 2017 tax cuts while slashing Medicaid and other safety net programs — is the most unpopular major piece of legislation in years,” Axios reports, and Trump campaign officials acknowledged the PR crisis in a closed-door briefing, urging Republicans to call the bill the "Working Families Tax Cut Bill."
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Democrats say that’s not going to work, especially with the Congressional Budget Office reporting the poorest 25 percent of households will lose money under Trump’s law while the richest reap the benefits.
Inflation is creeping higher, the labor market is softening, layoffs rising and economic activity is contracting in on itself, Axios reports. “Trump may wind up learning Biden's hard lesson: You can't convince voters the economy is strong when their lived experience tells them it's weak.”
Read the full Axios report at this link.
