Over the past few weeks, amid the turbulence caused by the Trump administration’s new tariffs, President Trump and Vice President JD Vance have repeatedly asked Americans to be patient. The message was that if they endured a period of uncertainty, some economic pain, and perhaps a temporary rise in prices, it would all be for the greater good: America’s prosperous future, from which they too would eventually benefit.
A look at Trump’s approval ratings since the Liberation Day announcements and the market turbulence that followed suggests that many Americans aren’t ready to swallow that pill. After all, didn’t Trump promise to improve his situation now, not five years from now? As Democrats discovered in the 2024 elections, Americans have very little tolerance for economic pain, even if it is temporary. Exit polls suggested that Kamala Harris lost the election because many Americans felt worse under Biden than before, and Trump was the candidate who promised to change that.
When Gallup recently asked Americans how long they were willing to accept economic disruption for the United States to reap economic benefits from higher tariffs, the results suggested that the clock is ticking for the Trump administration to deliver results. While 31% of respondents said they were not willing to accept any kind of economic problem, 20% said they would accept a couple of months of turbulence and another 22% said they would endure disruptions of up to a year.
Interestingly, Republicans expressed a much greater willingness to accept temporary economic discomfort in pursuit of long-term gains than Democrats. Given the degree of polarization of the American political landscape, it is more than likely that this is due to the fact that a Republican president is behind the policies in question.