Story Highlights
- 46% of Americans say Trump is mostly responsible for today’s economy
- 27% see Biden as mainly responsible
- About one in five think responsibility is shared
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three months into President Donald Trump’s second term, more Americans attribute current U.S. economic conditions to him rather than to his predecessor Joe Biden, while a considerable portion thinks responsibility is still shared between the two.
Nearly half of Americans surveyed April 2-15, 46%, say Trump is the more responsible of the two presidents for the current state of the U.S. economy, while 27% choose Biden. Given two other options, 21% indicate that both are equally responsible, while 5% say neither is. These results are nearly identical to what Gallup recorded in March.
Adding the “both” response to each president’s figure results in 67% of Americans in April thinking Trump bears substantial responsibility for the economy and 48% thinking the same of Biden.
Gallup has tracked these attitudes by web in March and April using its probability-based panel. In each survey, half of respondents were given four options for who bears the most responsibility for the economy — Trump, Biden, both or neither. The other half were offered only the choice of Trump or Biden. In answer to the binary question in April, 66% of Americans say Trump is the more responsible of the two, nearly identical to the total percentage saying he is solely or partially responsible in the four-part question. The remaining third say Biden is responsible.
Partisans Tell Different Economic and Political Stories
Whether saying Trump is responsible for today’s economy is a criticism or compliment depends on one’s view of the economy. Overall, Americans who rate the economy as either excellent or good are split between assigning responsibility to Biden (37%), Trump (34%), and both or neither (28%). Conversely, those saying economic conditions are poor mostly assign responsibility to Trump (66%). Just 14% of this group attributes them solely to Biden, while 20% say both or neither.
Democrats' assigning of responsibility for the economy to Trump, which 75% do, is clearly a criticism, as most Democrats describe the current state of the economy in negative terms.
Republicans have a more mixed assessment of present economic conditions, but they are also more than twice as likely to attribute conditions exclusively to Biden than to Trump (55% vs. 21%).
Overall, 91% of Democrats say Trump is mostly or equally responsible for the state of the economy, while 20% say the same about Biden. Among Republicans, the figures are 40% for Trump and 74% for Biden.
Bottom Line
Given Trump’s assertive efforts and plans to remake the economy through a combination of tariff hikes, tax cuts and deregulation, along with Wall Street's negative reaction in early April to his policies and implementation of them, it’s not surprising that many Americans perceive that the current economy already reflects Trump’s presidency more than Biden’s.
Democrats, who are deeply concerned about the economy, have already reached a consensus that it’s now Trump’s economy, and a large segment of independents agree. Republicans aren't likely to perceive that economic conditions are the result of Trump's rather than Biden's management until they are more convinced that the economy is doing well. Trump's recent comments tying negative first-quarter economic growth to Biden — and his suggestion that possible negative second-quarter growth would also be Biden's responsibility — are likely to ensure current Republican beliefs about economic ownership persist.
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