CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten said that he is left “confused” — and so are voters — about President Donald Trump’s plan when it comes to these two top priorities.
Enten was analyzing the results of a CBS News/YouGov poll released last month, which found that 55% of respondents do not believe that Trump has a clear plan for tariffs and trade, including 64% of independent voters.
Enten made it clear that the “no” percentage has increasingly ticked up over time, according to the two places, and that there is “tremendous uncertainty” among the American public in regards to Trump’s economic policies.
“This is the one thing that perturbs voters and the markets more than anything else,” Enten said. “It’s not whether or not you put tariffs on or not, it’s whether you’re going to actually do it and stick to your guns. The American public does not believe Donald Trump sticks to his guns.”
“...So the voters are thinking one thing, and the reason they’re thinking one thing — that is that Donald Trump does not have a clear plan for trade and tariffs is because, simply put, it doesn’t seem, at least according to this metric, that he does. So everything is kind of matching up here, whereby the voters are agreeing with what the anecdotes are saying, which is what the actual policy is” Enten added.
The confusion from voters comes as, most recently, Trump said on Tuesday that he had “positive” news from the European Union after the bloc expressed interest in establishing meetings to discuss trade talks with the U.S. Trump had previously agreed to delay a 50% tariff on all imports from the E.U. until July.
Last Friday, Trump threatened an at least 25% tax on Apple for smartphones that are not manufactured in the country, prompting National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett to tell CNBC on Tuesday that “we’ll see how it works out” when asked about how CEO Tim Cook should move forward.
And earlier this month, Trump had agreed to reduce tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to 30% for 90 days, while the Chinese government slashed its own retaliatory tariffs from 125% to 10%, as both countries continued to negotiate.
Trump’s latest tariff threats stirred up Wall Street after it had recovered most of the losses it had earlier taken because of the trade war. The S&P 500 dropped roughly 20% below its record at one point last month, when worries were at their height about whether Trump’s stiff tariffs would cause a global recession. The index then climbed back within 3% of its all-time high after Trump paused his tariffs on many countries, most notably China.
Consumers are clearly fearful that the duties will boost prices, as consumer confidence surveys have plummeted since Trump began ramping up his tariff threats in February. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index hasfallen for five straight monthsto its lowest level since the depths of the pandemic in May 2020.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stories by Rachel Cohen
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.