Overview
- Harvard’s Youth Poll finds only 13% of 18- to 29-year-olds say the country is on the right track, 43% report limited financial security, 59% see AI as a threat to jobs, and 28% say political violence can be acceptable in specific rights-violation scenarios.
- Politico/Public First reports 46% say the cost of living is the worst they can remember and 46% assign responsibility to President Trump, including concern among 2024 Trump voters, 37% of whom say conditions are the worst.
- National approval gauges compiled by the New York Times put Trump at roughly 42% approval and 55% disapproval, with declines concentrated among independents and college-educated white men and tied to views of his economic management.
- Democrats are leaning into an affordability message after recent wins and hold advantages in polling for congressional control, including among young voters measured by Harvard’s survey.
- Trump has dismissed the affordability focus as a Democratic “con job” and will start an economic tour Tuesday in Pennsylvania, promoting ideas such as tariff rebates and 50-year mortgages alongside limited tariff rollbacks, as a new consumer sentiment reading shows improvement.