By Howard Schneider, Ann Saphir and Jason Lange
WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Some 78% of Americans blame President Donald Trump's policies for rising prices that are outpacing their earnings, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that found majorities of Republicans and Democrats citing the cost of living as their top concern ahead of next month's midterm elections.
Fifty-seven percent of Trump's Republicans said that costs have been growing faster than their paychecks, a stark example of how his pursuit
of import tariffs, war with Iran and other policies have clashed with a central 2024 campaign promise to kill inflation and lower prices "on day one."
Inflation instead has increased, to the point where the US Federal Reserve has pivoted to rate hikes to quell price increases policymakers have attributed to a variety of factors, including rising global energy costs following the start of the Iran war, and the administration's imposition of aggressive import taxes.
Concerns about the economy and the war have driven Trump's public approval to record lows and have been weighing on support for his party ahead of the November 3 election that will determine control of Congress for the next two years.
About one in four Republicans disapproved of Trump's handling of the economy, a view shared by 63% of independents and 92% of Democrats. Disapproval was even sharper when it came to inflation, with 68% of all respondents and 40% of Republicans dissatisfied.
Jeffrey Talley, 65, a retired bank examiner from Mission Hills, Kansas, is a registered Republican, who said he voted for Trump in 2016 but not in 2020 or 2024 and now plans to vote for Democrat Adam Hamilton in what has become an unexpectedly competitive Senate race in the state.
"I'm pretty much against all the nonsense that's going on in the Middle East with the Iran war, and pushing up the price of gasoline ... that's been very disheartening," said Talley. He views the election as a chance to elect "somebody to put a check and balance on the craziness that's going on in the White House."
The six-day Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted online and nationwide and completed on Monday, gathered responses from 4,506 US adults. It had a margin of error of 2 percentage points for Americans in general and 3 points for Republicans, Democrats and independents.
'EVERYTHING HAS GONE UP'
The national average price of a gallon of gasoline was $4.36 on Thursday compared with $3.11 a year ago, while diesel fuel prices stood at $6.28 after a record run-up perhaps felt deepest in farm states including Kansas.
Another Kansan, 41-year-old Athena Barrett of Kansas City, said Trump's performance had motivated her to register to vote because "I don't really like what the president is doing."
"Gas prices ... food prices, the cost of living -- everything has gone up; what's going on with Iran, and all the stuff with immigration," said Barrett, who is Hispanic.
Hispanic voters supported Trump in large numbers in 2024, but polls have shown support eroding.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said Trump had ended the "inflation crisis" of his predecessor in office, Democrat Joe Biden, by boosting the economy with tax cuts and lowering the costs of prescription drugs. "The president has delivered tangible wins for American families," Rogers said by email.
Inflation spiked to a 40-year high during Biden's term and played an important role in Trump's 2024 election victory.
Its persistence, albeit off the highs of the COVID pandemic, has meant higher daily prices for things like gas, ground beef and airline tickets as well as higher interest rates. The 30-year home mortgage is now at 7.5%, double what homebuyers were used to just six years ago.
Poll respondents cited the cost of living as a top issue in their decisions on how to vote, with 54% of respondents, including 40% of Republicans, saying they felt it had increased a lot in the last year, compared with 30% who said it was up only a little and 10% who said it was unchanged.
Some 78% of the respondents - including 64% of Republicans and 76% of independents - said some blame lies with the White House, with most Americans viewing tariffs as an important cause of higher prices.
LITTLE HIT TO SPENDING
The poll provided only limited indications of people cutting back on spending. Some 63% of respondents said they were eating out at restaurants less often, and 56% said they were spending less on entertainment or streaming services.
Smaller shares said they were driving less or falling behind on bills.
Economic data does show Americans in general still making modest gains in their income, even after accounting for taxes and rising prices. Overall hourly wage gains are growing roughly in line with the consumer price index, meaning much of any growth in pay is eaten up in higher prices, the type of treading water that can sour attitudes about the state of the economy.
Surveys of consumer confidence by both the Conference Board and the New York Federal Reserve have reflected a dim outlook.
Some of Trump's policies still resonate: 45% of respondents said unauthorized immigration was a root cause of higher prices, echoing the argument made by the administration that people in the country illegally create extra demand for things like housing, pushing up costs.
Herman Sims, 67, of Dallas, has voted Republican since 2012, and plans to continue doing so in a close Senate race between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico even though he works for a trucking company hit hard by high diesel prices.
While he said he disagreed with Trump's decision to go to war with Iran, he would not vote for a Democrat: "What I've seen with the Democratic Party is they care more about themselves and will tell you anything, but they're more about spending."
(Reporting by Howard Schneider and Jason Lange in Washington and Ann Saphir in San Francisco; editing by Scott Malone and Deepa Babington)
