With five months to go until the midterms, President Donald Trump is now faring worse than former President Joe Biden on a key economic issue, according to new polling.

In a Reuters survey released Monday, 70 percent of respondents said they disapprove of Trump’s handling of the cost of living for Americans, while just 22 percent said they approve.

By comparison, when Biden left office in January 2025, 63 percent of respondents disapproved of his handling of the cost of living, while 29 percent approved.

Biden struggled for years to bring down high inflation, fueled by pandemic-era stimulus checks and spillover effects from the war in Ukraine, among other factors. That failure helped contribute to Democrats losing the White House, and all seven swing states, in 2024.

On the campaign trail and after returning to office, Trump repeatedly vowed to rein in inflation and lower fuel prices. But his war in Iran, launched in February, has only made matters worse.

As a result of dueling U.S. and Iranian blockades in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade route, global fuel prices have spiked, driving inflation higher.

In April, inflation reached 3.8 percent from one year earlier, marking its highest level in three years. And on Tuesday, the average price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. stood at $4.16, up from $2.98 two days before the war started, according to AAA.

Even as pump prices have eased recently amid hopes that the war will soon end, 59 percent of respondents said they expect domestic gas prices to worsen over the next year. Just 17 percent said they think prices will improve.