Majority Say Short-Term Tariff Pain Worth Long-Term Prosperity
According to the latest poll from the left-leaning pollster Ipsos, a majority of Americans agree with the Trump administration’s argument that other countries have taken advantage of the U.S. when it comes to international trade. Not only that, 50% of Americans—including nearly all Republicans—agreed that short-term pain would be worth it to make the U.S. stronger and more prosperous in the long term.
This is the type of result the administration would like to see, with the caveat that in the same poll, a majority of Americans said they opposed the tariff policy and how it was being handled.
Based on that, this shows the administration needs to continue working on its messaging. The American people are willing to endure short-term pain for long-term prosperity, as the poll indicates, but the Trump administration needs to make that trade-off more clear.
The Trump administration hopes reciprocal tariffs will lead to a manufacturing boom—or at the very least, to a reduction in trade barriers in other countries, leading to more free and FAIR trade. That needs to be the message the administration blasts everywhere. The message should be “Democrats are for Wall Street, Republicans are for Main Street”
