July 18, 2025 - 5:00pm
The Jeffrey Epstein saga continues to roil the Trump presidency. But another, more pernicious, crisis may be brewing. Just as it devours savings, inflation can also eat into a governing coalition’s political capital, and a recent poll from YouGov might be an early warning to Republicans.
However much polls might underestimate Trump’s support, this survey contains one surprising finding: the President’s single weakest issue is inflation/prices, where he garnered a -32% net approval rating. Almost half of those polled strongly disapproved of his handling of the issue.
A populist GOP which claims to represent the average American voter cannot afford to ignore the price of basic goods. The economic meltdown of 2008 set the stage for our own age of populism, and the increasing importance of the working class in the Republican base makes it even more important for the GOP to be attuned to those bread-and-butter issues. Even if cultural issues have helped draw blue-collar voters into the Republican coalition, keeping those voters will require addressing their concerns about affordability.
Yes, inflation has come down since the Biden era: the latest consumer-price-index reading showed a 2.7% increase over the past year, nowhere near the 9% readings of 2022. And it’s also likely that some of the public’s complaints about inflation might be partly a hangover from the skyrocketing price hikes of the Biden years. But Trump is president now, and voters will expect action on high prices, especially in the housing and healthcare sectors.
In housing, the crunch is particularly brutal. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the income to afford a median home nationally is now over one and half times the actual national median income. This spells trouble for younger Americans hoping to get a foot on the property ladder. Tellingly, a YouGov poll found Trump’s approval on prices was lowest among 18- to 29-year-olds and highest among seniors.
Young Americans shut out of homeownership and struggling to secure health insurance are increasingly desperate for a political coalition that takes this seriously. After the 2024 election, Republicans were quick to tout their growing appeal among younger voters, but that ground is fragile. If the GOP cannot offer real solutions to the housing crisis, it risks losing a generation. For a populist Right that depends on stable families and rooted communities, addressing the economic pressures facing young people isn’t optional — it’s existential.
One side of the affordability challenge is raising wages, and populists have argued that a crackdown on illegal immigration and boosting American manufacturing could help accomplish that, even if it naturally comes at an initial cost to employers. But MAGA cannot ignore the other side of that challenge: cutting costs. Tariffs may get in the way of this, although expanding domestic energy development will be a crucial part of any reshoring efforts. The Trump administration also needs to provide alternative, non-college pathways to well-paying jobs, reducing student debt and the over-credentialed workforce.
The cost of healthcare needs to be tackled, too. Polling consistently shows high levels of concern about how expensive medical services are, and the recent debate about the One Big Beautiful Bill highlighted the dangers of the austerity trap for Republicans. Changes to future Medicaid spending in that bill have worried populist legislators such as Josh Hawley, and also risk the party’s standing with its working-class base.
Instead of letting healthcare policy debates be centered on potential cuts to entitlements, Republicans might be better off emphasizing how they can reduce the cost of healthcare overall. Cutting the prices of prescription drugs, slashing the costs of medical training, and repealing measures that limit the supply of medical care — such as certificate-of-need laws — would be a good start.
Trump has an edge on many cultural issues and enjoys residual good feelings from the economy of his first term, but the ball is always moving in American politics. MAAA — “Make America Affordable Again” — will be a critical component of any successful MAGA agenda.
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