Tariffs

Trump's Approval Rating Is Cratering. Tariffs Are a Big Reason Why.

They cost each American household roughly $1,000 in 2025, with more coming in 2026.

Veronique de Rugy | 5.21.2026 11:20 AM

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(Samuel Corum - Pool via CNP/CNP/Polaris/Newscom)

Donald Trump is now an unpopular president. Some of this dissatisfaction is due to the war in Iran. Some of it springs from the unanticipated speed, chaos, and perceived brutality of several of his administration's actions over the past year and a half. But a significant part of his political problem has a straightforward economic explanation: Everything feels expensive, and his tariffs are a major reason why.

If the president wants to help himself and his party ahead of this year's midterm elections, the most effective thing he can do is eliminate the tariffs. The evidence in favor of this move is overwhelming, and it comes from his own tenure.

As an obligatory reminder, tariffs are levied on American importers who pass the costs on to American businesses and consumers. Those insisting tariffs are "paid by foreigners" must now dispute not just history but the present.

The Cato Institute's Scott Lincicome and colleagues reviewed a year of data from Trump's tariff regime and found that "the higher costs from tariffs passed through to prices paid by Americans at a rate as high as........

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