Trump hits lowest point in YouGov poll since return to office

According to Xinhua News Agency, the coalition of 25 states filed suit against the Trump administration in the U.S. Court of International Trade, arguing that the White House exceeded its authority by imposing a new round of tariffs on imports from 60 trading partners.

The lawsuit challenges the newly implemented 10% and 12.5% duties levied on most goods imported from these economies. According to the states, the targeted group of nations and territories accounts for 99.4% of total U.S. imports.

The plaintiff coalition is asking the court to declare the tariffs unlawful, block their enforcement, and order the government to fully refund all duties collected from businesses.

At the center of the lawsuit is the Trump administration’s reliance on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, combined with arguments concerning forced labor, to maintain broad-based tariffs after two previous iterations of the program were struck down by federal courts.

The shrinking world of former president Joe Biden

According to the states, this is merely an attempt to reimpose nearly the entire previous tariff framework, which was invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court in February.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul characterized the new tariffs as essentially “a tax on working families,” warning they will drive up prices on food, construction materials, basic consumer goods, and many everyday necessities.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield noted that this marks the third lawsuit his state has joined to challenge the Trump administration’s tariff policies, arguing that the new duties are driving up costs for households and small businesses.

Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Letitia James stated that after losing at the Supreme Court, the Trump administration is attempting to leverage a different legal authority to maintain sweeping import duties.

In response to the allegations, the White House asserted that the Section 301 tariffs are a “legally sound” trade mechanism that dates back to Trump’s first term and remains fully compliant with existing law.

In addition to New York, the states joining the lawsuit include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

According to Xinhua, this is the second major legal challenge targeting the Trump administration’s new tariff regime, following an earlier lawsuit brought by a coalition of small businesses arguing that the president cannot use a new legal basis to circumvent the Supreme Court’s prior ruling.

Three-quarters of Americans think Trump isn’t focusing on top US issues – poll

Trump’s overall approval rating slumps to 34%, according to new CNN poll, as midterms testing Republican power loom

Three-quarters of Americans believe Donald Trump is not paying enough attention to the country’s most important problems, and two-thirds think he places himself above the needs of the US, according to a new poll.

The CNN survey, conducted by the market research company SSRS, comes less than 100 days before November’s midterm elections in which the president’s Republican party is widely expected to lose control of one or both chambers of Congress.

Trump’s overall approval rating has slumped to 34%, the poll found, matching his previous lowest immediately following the 6 January 2021 insurrection he incited trying to cling on to power after losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.

The figure reflects growing dismay at the ongoing war in Iran – only 28% approve of Trump’s actions there, and even fewer, 25%, say the conflict has been worth it in terms of cost and American lives lost; meanwhile, the war’s effects at home are also causing disquiet, with 74% saying rising gas prices have caused at least some hardship, up from 63% in March.

In the parallel poll a year ago, 58% of respondents said Trump had not gone far enough in trying to reduce the price of everyday goods, a figure that has climbed to 71% this week.

Even Trump’s hardline immigration policies, previously a bright spot for his approval ratings, are dragging the president down. Only 39% believe he is doing a good job, and 54% say he has gone too far in mass deporting undocumented immigrants.

Overwhelmingly, Americans are outraged by Trump stamping his personality on the presidency. His pursuit of a taxpayer-funded White House ballroom, botched renovation of the Washington DC reflecting pool, and plans for a self-aggrandizing ceremonial arch, have left only 17% feeling positive.

In direct contrast, asked if Trump was in touch with problems Americans face in their everyday lives, 73% said no.

Only 38% of those polled consider him to be an effective world leader; and 57% say the 80-year-old president lacks the stamina and sharpness to serve effectively.

Trump hits lowest point in YouGov poll since return to office

President Trump’s approval rating has hit its lowest mark in the poll conducted by The Economist/YouGov since he returned to office last year.

In the poll, 34 percent of respondents said that they either “somewhat” or “strongly” back Trump’s job performance, while 62 percent said they either “strongly” or “somewhat” do not back his job performance. Four percent were unsure about his job performance.

According to YouGov, the 34 percent backing Trump’s efforts in his role is “tied” with a historic low throughout both Trump terms in its polling.

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Trump’s Approval Rating Plummets to All-Time Low With Uneducated Americans

Trump and the GOP are facing rocky political territory as they head into this year’s midterm elections, with Americans largely disapproving of the U.S. war in Iran in recent polling.

Polls also suggest concerns about the economy, as stubborn inflation has been exacerbated by rising gas and fertilizer prices caused by the disturbance to the oil market by the Iran war.

According to a polling average from Decision Desk HQ, Trump’s approval rating was sitting at 41 percent as of Tuesday evening, while his disapproval rating was at 56.9 percent.

Analyst Nate Silver suggested Sunday that Americans may be “moving on” from Trump.

“It’s kind of striking how, apart from Iran, most of the Trump-related stories this summer have been boring and dumb (reflection pool, White House Correspondents’ Dinner) or kind of funny (FIFA), maybe we’re moving on from him being the central figure in American politics,” Silver said in a post Sunday morning on the social platform X.

The Economist/YouGov poll took place between July 25 and 27, featuring 1,559 respondents and plus or minus 3.3 percentage points as its margin of error.