Don't Believe Trump's Spin, the Polling on Tariffs is Terrible

The White House tried to spin a fairy tale to Politico, but a brand new poll tells the real story

It’s been a tough week for the Trump White House. The so-called “Liberation Day” event led to immense mockery and the worst stock market sell-off in a very long time. Independent analysts are now predicting a recession later this year. Elon Musk is in a Twitter spat with Trump’s Trade advisor, and Republican members of Congress are starting to (quietly) freak out.

However, Politico says everything is super chill in the White House. In yesterday’s Playbook reported the following:

EXCLUSIVE: ALL GOING ACCORDING TO PLAN: But inside the White House itself, the outlook is downright rosy among a select group of Trump’s inner circle, POLITICO White House bureau chief Dasha Burns writes in to Playbook. “Ebullient” is how one insider close to the administration described the mood in the West Wing. “Nobody is fearful. They knew [this stock market reaction] was coming. They feel like everything is going according to plan.”

Promises made, promises kept? Trump’s inner circle feels strongly that levying tariffs was a promise made to working-class voters, and that they’re delivering. The Trump team’s “backbone is as tough as I have ever seen on any issue,” the same insider told Dasha.

Poll position: Three people who have seen the numbers tell Dasha private polling circulating among Trump’s allies is also boosting spirits. It shows the tariffs strategy is playing well among working-class voters who agree with Trump that other nations have taken advantage of the U.S., they say. “I thought we were getting clobbered but we’re not,” one of the people added. (Playbook has not independently reviewed the numbers, but they are informing the mood inside the White House.)

While I am confident that White House aides told all of this to Dasha Burns, I refuse to believe any of it is true. This is some of the most naked, least believable spin I have heard in twenty-plus years in politics. It’s laughable. While knowing what the White House tells people about tariffs is worthwhile, more scrutiny and less stenography are probably in order.

As you can imagine, I am particularly incensed by the part about private polling supporting Trump’s tariffs. Here’s what the polls really say:

Voters Do Not Like the Tariffs

I wrote about the polling on tariffs as recently as this past weekend. But since that post, we have new, more updated polling that is even more devastating for Trump. Yesterday morning, within an hour of the Politico report, Navigator Research released a new poll conducted after Trump’s tariff announcement and amid the ensuing market turmoil.