The AP-NORC survey found that consumers are not having a very happy holiday season

WASHINGTON (AP) — This holiday season isn’t exactly fun for American shoppers as big-ticket stocks dip into savings, hunt for deals and feel the overall economy is stuck in a rut under President Donald Trump, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

The vast majority of American adults say they have noticed increases in prices for groceries, electricity and holiday gifts in recent months, according to the survey by The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

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Nearly half of Americans say it’s more difficult than usual to buy things they want to give as holiday gifts, and similar numbers are delaying large purchases or cutting back on non-essential purchases more than they normally would.

It’s a sobering assessment for the Republican president, who returned to the White House largely by promising to lower prices, only to find that inflation remains a threat to his popularity just as it did during Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency. The poll results look very similar to the AP-NORC poll in December 2022, when Biden was president and the country was suffering from high inflation rates. Trump’s series of tariffs have increased inflationary pressures and generated concern about the stability of the US economy, keeping prices at levels that many Americans find depressing.

The president has insisted that there is no inflation and that the US economy is thriving, and he has expressed frustration that people’s feelings are different.

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“When will people understand what is happening?” Trump said Thursday on Truth Social. “When will the polls reflect how great America is today, and how bad it was just a year ago?”

The majority of adults in the United States, 68%, continue to say that the country’s economy is “weak,” which has not changed since December 2024, before Trump returned to the presidency.

Americans are nervous as they continue to see rising prices

People visit a Christmas store in New York City on November 16, 2025. Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

White House officials plan to send Trump around the country in hopes of boosting people’s confidence in the economy ahead of next year’s midterm elections. But this week in Pennsylvania, the president defended the price increases tied to his tariffs by suggesting that Americans should buy fewer dolls and pencils for children. His message stands in stark contrast to what survey respondents expressed, even among people who supported him in the 2024 election.

Sergio Ruiz, 44, of Tucson, Arizona, said he uses more buy-now-pay-later programs to spread out the cost of gifts for his children over time. He’s not very focused on politics, but he voted for Trump last year and would like to see lower interest rates to help boost his real estate business. He believes more Americans with higher incomes would help manage any affordability issues.

Read more: Consumer confidence declines as Americans become increasingly concerned about rising costs and the labor market

“Prices are up. What can you do? You need to make more money,” Ruiz said.

The survey found that when they shop, about half of Americans find a lower price than usual. About 4 in 10 spend more on their savings than at any other time.

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they will cut expenses or look for lower prices, but many Republicans are budgeting more than usual as well. About 4 in 10 Republicans are searching for lower prices than they normally would, while a similar share is shopping for non-essential items less than usual.

The views are very similar to those when Biden was president

Christmas decorations made in China are on sale at a souvenir shop near the White House on April 9, 2025. Photograph by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

People felt similarly gloomy about holiday shopping and the economy when Biden was president in 2022. Inflation rose to its highest level in four decades that summer. Three years later, inflation has fallen significantly, but remains at 3%, a full percentage point above the Fed’s target, as the labor market appears to have entered a deep freeze.

The survey indicates that the price level – not just the inflation rate – is the pain point for many households. Nearly 9 in 10 U.S. adults, 87%, say they’ve noticed higher-than-usual prices for groceries in the past few months, while about two-thirds say they’ve experienced higher-than-usual prices for electricity and holiday gifts. About half say they’ve seen higher than usual gas prices recently.

Results for groceries and holiday gifts are only slightly lower than in the 2022 survey, despite a slowdown caused by the inflation rate, which reached a four-decade peak in the middle of that year.

Consumer spending has remained resilient despite negative sentiment around the economy, but Trump’s tariffs have caused changes for shoppers like Andrew Russell.

The 33-year-old assistant professor in Arlington Heights, Illinois, said he used to shop for unique gifts from all over the world and buy online. But with customs duties, he got his gifts locally, and “this year, I only bought things I could pick up in person.”

Russell, who voted Democratic in last year’s election, said he’s worried about the economy next year. He believes that investing in artificial intelligence has become a bubble that could burst, leading to a stock market collapse.

Little optimism about an economic recovery in 2026

Few people expect the situation to improve appreciably next year — a sign that Trump has done little to instill much confidence with his mix of tariffs, income tax cuts and foreign trips to attract investment. Trump confirmed that the benefits of his policies will begin to increase in 2026.

About 4 in 10 American adults expect next year to be worse economically for the country. Nearly 3 in 10 say conditions will not change much. Only about 2 in 10 think things will get better, with Republicans being more optimistic.

Belief that things will improve has declined from last year, when about 4 in 10 said 2025 would be better than 2024.

Millicent Simpson, 56, of Cleveland, Ohio, said she expects the economy to be worse for people like her who rely on Medicaid for health care and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Simpson voted Democratic last year and blames Trump for the greater economic pressures she faces heading into winter.

“It makes things difficult for us,” she said. “It’s messing with government assistance for everyone, young and old.”

The AP-NORC poll of 1,146 adults was conducted Dec. 4-8 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage points.