Los Angeles Times
· collected 2026-09-07 · by Michael Wilner, Ana Ceballos
Trump’s economic record is working against him in the midterms
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record → work → article
- Trump’s trade wars, tax cuts and immigration crackdown have driven up prices on everyday goods and gas.
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wars → drive → goods
With inflation elevated and gas prices surging amid the war with Iran, voters give Trump dismal marks on the economy as Republicans brace for midterm losses.
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Republicans → elevate → losses
- Some GOP candidates are embracing Trump and touting his policies but others are distancing themselves from the president.
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others → embrace → president
A sporadic global trade war led by President Trump is fueling inflation across the U.S. economy, elevating prices on everyday goods, as the war with Iran sends the price of gas on a roller coaster.
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war → lead → coaster
Aggressive tax cuts have pushed the national debt past $40 trillion, driving a growing crisis in the bond market.
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cuts → push → market
And an unprecedented immigration crackdown is disrupting the labor supply in agriculture, construction, hospitality and food processing, raising prices even further.
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crackdown → disrupt → prices
Approaching the halfway point of Trump’s second term, a president who won reelection based on a promise to turn the economy around now faces a reckoning in the midterm elections centered largely on his economic record.
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who → approach → record
Trump’s economic agenda has emerged as an increasingly awkward liability for Republicans heading into the November elections, leaving lawmakers to defend policies that have delivered political pain at home, even as the White House argues they will pay off in the long run.
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they → emerge → run
Polling on Trump’s handling of the economy has remained in precariously low territory throughout the summer, entering Labor Day weekend with less than a third of Americans supporting his job performance on their most pressing concerns.
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third → remain → concerns
One recent poll, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, found that only 22% perceive the economy in a good or fair state.
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% → find → state
And Americans’ confidence in the economy is unlikely to improve much ahead of election day, Nov. 3, in part because bad economic news has shown to sink confidence fast.
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news → improve → confidence
Good news takes much longer to win people back, experts said.
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experts → take → people
“Voters’ opinion of the economy has mostly hardened,” said Aaron Klein, chair of economic studies at the Brookings Institution.
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Klein → harden → Institution
“People vote the economy of the spring and summer, not November.”
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People → vote → spring
Good news has been harder to come by.
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news → come → ?
Heading into the holiday weekend, Trump dismissed communities opposed to data-center construction as “backwards and poor.”
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Trump → head → construction
A rapidly escalating trade dispute with Canada threatens Republican gains in battlegrounds along the northern border that could determine control of the Senate.
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that → escalate → Senate
And fresh polling found that more than 90% of Americans believe corruption is rampant in Trump’s government, even as the president spends hundreds of millions of dollars on vanity projects across the capital.
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president → find → capital
Susan Collins, the incumbent Republican senator from Maine seeking another term in a strategically critical race, chastised the Trump administration for its latest trade spat with Ottawa as “making the job harder” of securing reelection.
“There’s just nothing good you can say about them,” Collins said of the tariffs.
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Collins → seek → tariffs
Trump has pushed back on criticisms of his record, declaring the country has “the greatest economy we’ve ever had” and touting what he calls a manufacturing boom, all while distancing himself from potential midterm losses.
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he → push → losses
“I’m not affected by the election,” Trump told reporters last week.
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Trump → affect → reporters
“I’m not running.
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I → run → ?
But my party’s running, and I’m going to help my party.”
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I → run → party
But Rep. Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican and speaker of the House, said last week that the midterms would serve as a referendum on Trump’s presidency.
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midterms → say → presidency
“Even though his name isn’t in the midterm, his legacy is,” Johnson said.
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Johnson → say → midterm
Several embattled incumbents fear that’s the case and are distancing themselves from the president.
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that → fear → president
Several Republican lawmakers — including Reps. Tom Barrett of Michigan and Zach Nunn of Iowa — plan on skipping a midterm GOP convention called by Trump for this week in Texas.
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lawmakers → include → Texas
Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers, said that gas prices were a chief frustration among Americans, and found that consumer sentiment soured rapidly once it became clear the conflict in Iran would not be short-lived.
“Consumers are absolutely not feeling great about the economy right now, and the factors that are underpinning their frustrations with the economy at this time are factors that are pretty tough to turn around on short notice,” Hsu said.
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Hsu → say → notice
Even if the Iran conflict reached a resolution, confidence in the economy is likely to change only when the prices are reflected at the gas station, she said.
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she → reach → station
“When it comes to the views of the economy, it’s really about what’s happening to my wallet,” Hsu said.
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Hsu → come → wallet
During a White House press media briefing on Thursday,Vice President JD Vance acknowledged the Iran war has led gas prices to rise and that he does not know when Americans can expect those prices to go down.
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prices → acknowledge → prices
“The reason gas prices are so high now is because the Iranians are shooting at commercial shipping,” Vance said.
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Vance → shoot → shipping
But I am not going to make a promise about when it is going to return to $3.”
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it → go → 3
The day after Vance spoke, diesel hit a record all-time high of $5.85 a gallon.
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diesel → speak → 5.85
In California, it sold for as much as $7.71.
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it → sell → 7.71
Yet Trump has tried to downplay the economic pressure the war in Iran is placing on Americans, in particular as the Strait of Hormuz — a vital shipping corridor for oil and gas — remains under threat by Iranian troops.
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Strait → try → troops
“We have the Strait of Hormuz in extremely good shape,” Trump said, adding that the U.S. Navy has escorted ships through the channel.
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Navy → have → channel
“A lot of oil is coming out.
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lot → come → oil
That’s why you haven’t seen the price of oil going the way they thought it might have to go.”
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it → ’ → oil
…and 11 more, not listed.
