President Donald Trump's economic polling looks so bad that CNN's Harry Enten wondered whether he was engaged in self-sabotage.
The president blurted out "I love the inflation" when asked about the last month's 4.2 percent spike in costs, and the data analyst said that certainly won't help Trump or his Republican allies on the most pressing issue for American voters.
"I would just say, if I'm an American, based upon the pollingI'm seeing, I hear thepresident, go, 'What the heck didI just hear? What the heck isgoing on?'" Enten said. "One of the mostpolitically tone-deaf statementsI've ever heard, and you cansee it in the numbers righthere. Americans don't thinkdon't like the inflation, theyhate the inflation. They don'tlove the inflation, they hatethe inflation."
Trump is 50 points underwater on the issue of inflation in at least eight polls — a historic first, Enten said.
"Everyother president and every otheryear, the answer is zero," he said. "Trumpis not only the first one toreach minus-50 points or worse, netapproval rating on inflation.He's done it many times, sowhen I hear Trump's statement, Ijust, I feel like [the character] Mrs. White in [the 1985 film] 'Clue' andgoing, what what is what ishappening here?"
The president's approval rating on gas prices, which have exploded since he launched a war on Iran, is even more gruesome.
"How aboutan 80 percent disapproval on gasprices?" Enten said. "Which of course is fueling this frustration withinflation. Take a look here, theonly president with an 80 percentdisapproval rating on gas pricesof all time is Trump in 2026.You can see Trump there, he'spointing the arrow to it. Yes,he has done it, this Iran warhas done it. It has fueledrecord frustration, inflationand record frustration when itcomes to gas prices. The onlypresident ever with at least an80 percent disapproval rating on gasprices, Donald John Trump inthis year, 2026."
Trump's inflation comments quickly spread among Republicans on Capitol Hill, and Enten said the remarks won't be helpful.
"The Republicans on Capitol Hill absolutely hated Donald Trump's statement," he said. "Why? Becausejust it is absolutely funnelingdown, okay. Democrats are more,are the party more trusted oninflation, for the first timesince the 1970s. It is true. Nowtoday we are actually seeingpolling in which the Democratsare the party that is more trustthan inflation. I was lookingback at all the polls. I canfind the last time it reallyhappened in an average of pollswas in 1978. Of course, beforethat, inflation, boom, took Jimmy Carter out, and if history isprologue in this situation, well,it's going to take out the Republican majority in the House,as well."
"So no wonder that Republicans heard that statementand, just like me, are like Mrs.White. What, what what what didI just hear? Well, you justheard a president who wants tosink his party's midtermfortunes. That's what you justheard"