President Donald Trump is heading to China looking for a political win, but a CNN panel Tuesday said the real problem is that he’s carrying a long list of losses. As prices rise and voters increasingly blame him for the economy, even Republicans are starting to feel the backlash, leaving Trump desperate for a headline-grabbing deal he can sell as proof he still has control.
"Just the idea that people are saying he's not going in to say 'do this,'" said CNN host Audi Cornish. "He's going in, maybe to say, 'What can you do?'"
Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha said that the only thing Trump wants is a "big headline."
"That's the only thing he wants to come back with: a big super deal that he can say he orchestrated, that he's responsible for," said Rocha.
The reason, Rocha explained, is that the electorate is blaming Trump for all of their economic problems.
"Whether it is right or wrong, they equate that," he added.
CNN's poll released on Tuesday delves into specifics beyond Americans' attitudes toward Trump. It showed that Republicans are also blaming Trump for their economic woes.
"And I think you're seeing this in lots of different places," Rocha said. "And there's one thing this ain't just because of Trump. When you're the party in power, you get a lot of responsibilities. You have a lot of responsibilities. The American people going — they don't know everything about the inner workings of the government, but they know you're in charge, and things got more expensive."
He recalled that President Joe Biden got blamed for the tough economy as well, even if it wasn't his fault.
"Guess who gets blamed now? Donald Trump. He's like the dog who caught the car," Rocha said.
Sabrina Singh, former deputy Pentagon press secretary under Biden, said that Trump came in on this promise of making everything more affordable but has done the opposite.
"I think a lot of what Democrats are going to ask voters to ask themselves is, is your life better off today than it was two years ago or four years ago?" she asked.
Senior CNN reporter Aaron Blake noted that in years past, Republicans have had the edge from Americans who have more faith in what they can do on the economy. For the first time since President Barack Obama's era, Democrats are getting better marks on the affordability crisis.
Republican Ashley Davis, a former official in President George W. Bush's administration, asked if Democrats had any ideas to fix things and said all they do is blame Trump for everything.
Singh explained that Democrats were never for the policies that are hurting the economy, like Trump's huge, sweeping tariffs, the Iran war and other problems.
Cornish said that Democrats may be blaming Trump, but there are very clear specifics.
"I don't know if they can take advantage of it, but I do think there is something to her point. Unlike the vibe session, where it's like, oh, covid quarantine, something mismanagement, people can be like, remember the day Trump came out with a big sign that said, here are the tariffs. And the market went like this," Cornish said, pointing down. "Remember the day Trump launched strikes here and the market went like this? Remember the day — they have a specific key, easy-to-digest points of origin."
Davis tried to pivot to the gas tax holiday and Trump's decision to support it. Cornish questioned the reality of anything Trump promises because he never delivers.
"Look at how little this Congress has passed? I'm not holding my breath, but I also know the president has, many times said, 'I'm going to give you $2,000. I'm going to give you $2000.' So I'm wondering where this moves from float to exist," Cornish said.
