66% of Americans disapprove of Trump on gas prices as they feel effects of Iran war

A new Yahoo/YouGov poll suggests that President Trump may be starting to pay a political price for the rising cost of gas in the United States as a result of the Iran war.

The survey of 1,699 U.S. adults, which was conducted from March 12 to 16, found that two thirds of them (66%) disapprove of how the president is handling gas prices versus 27% who approve. Nearly identical numbers now disapprove (67%) and approve (26%) of Trump’s approach to the cost of living.

That 26% is Trump’s lowest approval number on the cost of living to date.

Overall, approval of how Trump is handling the economy has fallen by five percentage points since last month (from 37% to 32%) while disapproval has risen by nearly as much (from 57% to 61%).

Yahoo and YouGov have never measured a lower economic approval rating for Trump — not even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic during his first term.

Four in five Americans say gas prices are “too high”

The new Yahoo/YouGov poll arrives as Americans are starting to feel the economic effects of the Iran war. The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the rest of the globe; one-fifth of the world’s oil flows through it. But Iran has been threatening to attack ships there, and the country’s new leader has vowed to maintain the blockade. U.S. officials say Iran has also been booby-trapping the strait with mines.

In response, global oil prices have soared to more than $100 a barrel for the first time in years. The average price of gas in the U.S. is approaching $4 a gallon, up 80 cents from a month ago. Food and other goods that need to travel from one place to another could soon become more expensive as well.

The Trump administration has tried to address the issue in various ways: lifting sanctions on some Russian oil to increase supply; striking Iran’s 30 mine-laying ships; and calling on U.S. allies to send warships to escort merchant vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

But as the president wrote Tuesday on social media, “the United States has been informed by most of our NATO ‘Allies’ that they don’t want to get involved.”

“WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!” he added.

The Yahoo/YouGov poll finds that  80% of Americans — including 71% of Republicans — already say gas prices are too high, and more than two thirds (67%) expect those prices to go up over the next few months. Forty-five percent of Americans think gas prices will go up “a lot.” Even Republicans are more likely to think that gas prices will go up (about 45%) than down (40%) in the months ahead.

And among Americans who think gas prices are going up, 60% say Trump “deserves the most blame” — far more than the number who say the same about Iran (13%) or oil companies (12%).

In general, a majority of Americans have a negative view of the U.S. economy right now:

• 71% now say the economy is in fair or poor condition

• 75% now say they are paying more for the same goods and services than they were a few years ago

• 61% now say inflation is getting worse; just 16% say it’s getting better

• 58% now say the economy is getting worse; just 20% say it’s getting better

• 54% now say the country is either headed for a recession or already in one

Three weeks into the war, more Americans disapprove (55%) than approve (36%) of the way Trump is handling Iran. His approval rating on foreign policy in general has decreased from 39% approve, 51% disapprove in January to 35% approve, 56% disapprove today.

Trump’s overall approval rating — 38% approve, 59% disapprove — hasn’t changed significantly over the last month. But among Republicans, a gap seems to be forming between perceptions of Trump and perceptions of how he’s handling key aspects of his job. For example: while only 17% of Republicans express general disapproval of Trump’s performance as president, roughly twice as many disapprove of his handling of gas prices (33%) and the cost of living (33%).

One third of Republicans (33%) also say that Trump has been more focused on problems “abroad, in other countries” than “at home, in America.” A majority of Americans share that view, with 55% saying the president is more focused on problems abroad — roughly double the number who say he’s more focused on problems at home (27%).

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The Yahoo survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,699 U.S. adults interviewed online from March 12 to 16, 2026. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 election turnout and presidential vote, party identification and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Party identification is weighted to the estimated distribution at the time of the election (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of all U.S. adults. The margin of error is approximately 3.1%.