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suggests that President Trump may be starting to pay a political price for the rising cost of gas in the United States as a result of the Iran war.
The survey of 1,699 U.S. adults, which was conducted from March 12 to 16, found that two thirds of them (66%) disapprove of how the president is handling gas prices versus 27% who approve. Nearly identical numbers now disapprove (67%) and approve (26%) of Trump’s approach to the cost of living.
That 26% is Trump’s lowest approval number on the cost of living to date.
Overall, approval of how Trump is handling the economy has fallen by five percentage points since last month (from 37% to 32%) while disapproval has risen by nearly as much (from 57% to 61%).
Yahoo and YouGov have never measured a lower economic approval rating for Trump — not even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic during his first term.
Four in five Americans say gas prices are “too high”
The new Yahoo/YouGov poll arrives as Americans are starting to feel the economic effects of the Iran war. The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the rest of the globe; one-fifth of the world’s oil flows through it. But Iran has been threatening to attack ships there, and the country’s new leader has vowed to maintain the blockade. U.S. officials say Iran has also been
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In response, global oil prices have soared to more than $100 a barrel for the first time in years. The average price of gas in the U.S. is approaching $4 a gallon, up 80 cents from a month ago. Food and other goods that need to travel from one place to another
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The Trump administration has tried to address the issue in various ways: lifting sanctions on some Russian oil to increase supply; striking Iran’s 30 mine-laying ships; and calling on U.S. allies to send warships to escort merchant vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
But as the president
Tuesday on social media, “the United States has been informed by most of our NATO ‘Allies’ that they don’t want to get involved.”
“WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!” he added.
The Yahoo/YouGov poll finds that 80% of Americans — including 71% of Republicans — already say gas prices are too high, and more than two thirds (67%) expect those prices to go up over the next few months. Forty-five percent of Americans think gas prices will go up “a lot.” Even Republicans are more likely to think that gas prices will go up (about 45%) than down (40%) in the months ahead.