President Donald Trump is in a slump.

Even as he gives himself an “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus” on the economy, there are other, much more useful metrics to consider that don’t involve grade inflation.

In March, Trump’s approval rating on the economy was 40 per cent, according to an AP-NORC poll. It is now 31 per cent, the lowest economic approval number he has ever received as president.

Even Trump, who often calls polls he doesn’t like “fake”, can’t ignore these numbers, which have consistently been bad.

“When will I get credit for having created, with No Inflation, perhaps the Greatest Economy in the History of our Country?” he lamented on Truth Social recently. “When will people understand what is happening? When will Polls reflect the Greatness of America at this point in time, and how bad it was just one year ago?”

Despite Trump’s “no inflation” claim, the inflation rate is 3 per cent, the same as it was last year.

Against this backdrop, some 26 Republican members of Congress have announced that they are retiring or running for higher office, with more announcements expected in the coming weeks, making the task of keeping the majority that much tougher for embattled Speaker Mike Johnson. (At this point, 18 Democratic House members have also decided to either retire or run for higher office.)

Add to this, Trump’s efforts to make the political terrain easier for his party by gerrymandering in red states have run aground. In Indiana, Republicans defied the president despite his primary threats and voted to reject Trump’s plan to eliminate two Democratic districts. This is yet another sign of Trump’s waning political power over his party, once unshakeable and now slipping as he enters his lame-duck era.

Bullish and full of swagger 11 months ago, Republicans now seem adrift, with no clear message and little momentum.

To turn the tide, the party has prevailed on the president to focus more on affordability, a word he mocks, and to get out of the White House and take his message to average Americans. The results, unsurprisingly, weren’t good, with the president doing what he has called “the weave”, veering from topic to topic and grudgingly talking about the economy in a speech in Pennsylvania last Tuesday.

“They gave you high prices. They gave you the highest inflation in history and we’re giving you — we’re bringing those prices down rapidly. Lower prices, bigger pay cheques. You’re getting lower prices, bigger pay cheques,” Trump said in his speech, delivered in Mt Pocono. “We’re getting — inflation, we’re crushing it and you’re getting much higher wages. I mean, the only thing that is really going up big, it’s called the stock market and your 401(k)s.”

The stock market is up since Trump took office, even after taking a hit in April because of his tariff policies, which are broadly disliked. Yet, that increase isn’t being experienced by average Americans. While some 62 per cent of Americans own stocks according to Gallup, the top 10 per cent of Americans hold more than 90 per cent of stock wealth.

“Watching him talk about affordability and the challenge Americans face paying for things, being able to afford their rent, their mortgage, etc, calling it all a ‘hoax’,” said senator Adam Schiff on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, “I watch the president say these things, and my reaction is, ‘Please keep talking. Keep talking.’ Because they’re going to talk themselves into a very small minority if they keep it up.”

In his speech, Trump mentioned eggs almost two dozen times, touting a recent drop in prices. The price of eggs was a big topic in 2024, as prices soared under Biden along with outbreaks of avian flu. But eggs are just one part of the problem. Americans are also focused on more intractable issues, such as the costs of healthcare and housing, according to a Politico poll.

Yet Trump only mentioned healthcare twice in his big economic speech, and on Thursday, congressional Republicans failed again to extend Covid-era subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. As for housing, Trump’s speech didn’t mention it at all.

Yes, making the price of a bag of groceries more affordable is at the top of Americans’ wish lists. But, as Democrats learned last year, the affordability issue is complex. Americans don’t just want to be able to fill up their cars and grocery carts with ease, they also want security and upward mobility. The party that recognises this will have the advantage. So far, Trump is getting an F on that score, and his popularity and his party are paying the price.

• Nia-Malika Henderson is a politics and policy columnist for Bloomberg Opinion