New poll flashes warning sign on a top issue for Trump during campaign

"I don't see it at all. I think this country is going to boom," the president told reporters on Tuesday as he inspected a Tesla electric vehicle that was parked on the South Lawn of the White House, courtesy of top Trump adviser Elon Musk, the car company's billionaire CEO.

Trump stands at 44% approval and 56% disapproval for the job he is doing steering the economy, in a CNN national poll conducted March 6-9 by SSRS and released on Wednesday. 

The president was also underwater on the economy by 10 points in a Reuters/Ipsos survey in the field March 3-4.

When it comes to his overall approval rating, Trump has seen his numbers edge down slightly since returning to the White House in late January, when an average of his polls indicated the president's approval rating in the low 50s and his disapproval in the mid 40s. An average of the latest surveys indicates he is hovering slightly above water.

However, when it comes specifically to his handling of the economy, CNN's latest numbers are below where he stood at any point in their polling during his first term in office.

"There is a period of transition, because what we're doing is very big," Trump said as he referred to his agenda, which includes tariffs. 

"It takes a little time," Trump said before predicting that his economic agenda "should be great for us."

While aking questions Tuesday amid another down day for the nation's financial markets, Trump said "You're going to have drops and markets are going to go up and they're gonna go down."

Trump's predecessor in the White House, former President Joe Biden, was dogged by inflation during his tenure.

Biden's approval rating hovered in the low-to-mid-50s during the first six months of his single term as president, with his disapproval in the upper 30s to the low- to-mid-40s. 

However, Biden's numbers sank into negative territory in the late summer and autumn of 2021, in the wake of his much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan, a surge of migrants crossing into the U.S. along the nation's southern border with Mexico, and amid soaring inflation.

Biden's approval ratings stayed underwater throughout the rest of his presidency, as high prices for goods remained a top concern on the minds of American voters.

Trump received some good inflation news on Wednesday, with the consumer price index coming in at a lower-than-expected level last month, according to a new government report.

The White House communications shop spotlighted the news in an email release titled "Inflation Eases as Job Creation Soars and Border Security Pays Off."

However, Shaw emphasized that inflation remains critical to Trump's political fortunes.

"If prices remain high, he's going to have trouble," Shaw warned.