43 percent say Trump responsible for current state of economy: Survey

A large share of Americans say President Trump is to blame for the current economic conditions facing the nation, including high inflation and affordability concerns, according to a new survey.

The Politico/Public First poll, released Thursday, found that 43 percent of respondents said they believe the president is mostly or fully responsible for the state of the economy. The survey indicated a deep partisan split on the issue, with 19 percent of Republicans and 70 percent of Democrats holding Trump accountable.

Meanwhile, another 16 percent said they place equal blame on Trump and former President Biden, while 29 percent placed greater blame on the latter.

A majority of Americans in the survey rated concerns about the cost of living as the top issue facing the U.S. right now. About 27 percent ranked the “poor state” of the economy and 22 percent selected high taxes as the nation’s top problem.

The new data comes as the Trump administration seeks to calm concerns about affordability ahead of the midterms and amid ongoing U.S. military operations against Iran, which have strained global energy supplies , and a tariff fight with Canada .

The president has repeatedly blamed unfavorable economic reports on the Biden administration and claimed energy prices that have skyrocketed during the Iran war “ will drop precipitously ” when the months-long conflict comes to a close.

During a Wednesday campaign event in North Carolina, Trump told supporters that higher gas prices were a “very inexpensive price to pay” for these military operations.

This week, regular unleaded gas jumped from a national average of $4.31 to $4.43 in the span of four days, according to AAA . The national average price of diesel jumped by 42 cents over the last week.

The Politico poll was conducted Sept. 13-15 across a sample of 2,064 Americans. The margin of error is about 2.2 percentage points.