The findings from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research come as Americans face increasingly difficult choices between basic household expenses and the cost of commuting to work, while Trump continues to defend the economic costs of his war against Iran.

In Edinburg, Texas, 28-year-old Amazon delivery driver Quinten Martinez described the pressure at the gas pump as a choice between buying food and having enough fuel to work.

“Is it going to be groceries this week?” Martinez asked as he watched the numbers rise.

“Is it gonna be getting gas in our tank to go to work?”

Martinez rejected Trump’s assertion that higher gasoline prices were a small price to pay for the war with Iran.

“I don’t feel like it’s a good trade-off,” Martinez said.

“I don’t feel like this is good for anyone.”

The frustration extends beyond gasoline prices, as the latest polling points to broader dissatisfaction with the economic consequences of Trump’s policies.

Sixty-nine percent of Americans say Trump’s handling of the cost of living has been worse than expected, including 52% of Republicans.

More than half of adults say the country, the national economy and their local economy are worse off since Trump was reelected in 2025, while 46% say they and their families are worse off since the beginning of his second administration.

Overall, 73% say the country is heading in the wrong direction, including 92% of Democrats and 47% of Republicans.

The economic pressure is particularly visible at gas stations, where rising fuel costs are directly affecting workers who depend on their vehicles.

Interviews with voters across several states have found frustration across political lines over gasoline prices and the broader affordability crisis.

Trump has nevertheless sought to portray the increased cost of fuel as a justified consequence of the war.

During a campaign appearance in North Carolina, Trump said higher gasoline prices were “a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done,” referring to the war, which he has described as necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

For many Americans, however, the costs are increasingly difficult to dismiss.

A Fox News survey cited in the reporting found that 61% of voters consider gasoline prices a major problem for their households, up from 48% two years earlier.

The same survey found that nearly two-thirds of voters, 63%, believe the Trump administration has made the economy worse, compared with 52% in September 2025.

Only 46% of Republicans said the administration had improved the economy, while about one-quarter said it had made no difference.

In rural South Texas, where Trump’s Republican Party has made gains in recent elections, Martinez said the economic reality he sees does not match the president’s claims about the strength of the US economy.

Trump “likes to tout that we are the best economy in the world,” Martinez said.

“But in more rural towns, you don't see any of the winning, you don't see any of the ups that he's talking about.”

“You just see struggles for day to day life,” he said.

The latest AP-NORC poll also shows that dissatisfaction extends to Trump’s broader economic and foreign-policy agenda.

Sixty-eight percent disapprove of his trade negotiations with other countries, while 58% say his handling of trade has gone worse than expected during his second term.

Sixty-four percent say Trump’s imposition of new tariffs on other countries has gone too far.

On Iran, 71% of adults disapprove of how Trump is handling the issue, while 69% say the war with Iran has not been worth fighting.

The poll also indicates a deterioration in Americans’ perceptions of the country’s international relationships.

Only 26% now consider Canada a close ally of the United States, down from 62% three years ago and 45% in March 2025.

Another 35% describe the two countries as friendly but not close allies, while 30% say relations are not friendly but the countries are not enemies.

Trump performs somewhat better on immigration, although his numbers remain mixed.

Forty-eight percent say his handling of immigration has gone worse than expected, while 23% say it has gone better than expected.

His approval rating on immigration stands at 39%.

Meanwhile, only 17% of Americans say Trump keeps his promises, including 4% of Democrats and 36% of Republicans.

Among Democrats, 87% say the president does not keep his promises, while 48% of Republicans say he tries but is unable to do so.

The AP-NORC nationwide poll was conducted Sept. 24-28, 2026, using the AmeriSpeak Panel, a probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago.

The survey included online and telephone interviews with 2,140 adults using landlines and cell phones, with an overall margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.