by Amanda Head
Thanksgiving travel and food prices may be lower, but Americans are not feeling an ease in the cost of living, and the government shutdown isn't helping in terms of sentiment, either.
Ahead of the holiday season when travel and cooking usually spike, gas prices are down, egg prices are down, and inflation has cooled. Despite this, according to new polling, economic sentiment is still in the doldrums thanks to over 22% cumulative inflation from the last administration, compounded by stress from the government shutdown.
"The way people are feeling about their finances today is the way they felt about them under Joe Biden, and that's a bad sign," veteran pollster Scott Rasmussen told Just the News.
The numbers from a Napolitan News Service survey released Thursday show a demonstrable disconnect between economic sentiment since President Donald Trump's inauguration and that of the last two weeks.
Voters nearly as pessimistic as when Biden held White House
Just 26% of voters report that their finances are getting better, down from 31% two weeks ago. 39% say their finances are getting worse, up from 31% two weeks ago.
Voters are now nearly as pessimistic as they were just before Trump won the 2024 general election when the same poll found that 25% of voters said their finances were getting better and 41% said they were getting worse, the poll indicates.
The shutdown has taken its toll such that 44% report that they have felt some impact from it. Rasmussen told Just the News, "People are beginning to feel the impact of the government shutdown. 44% now believe that or say they have felt some impact from it. That's twice what it was two weeks ago. 16% are saying they felt a lot of impact. That's double two weeks ago and triple just a month ago."
"So we're seeing a situation where people are beginning to get nervous about their finances." Putting things into perspective, however, Rasmussen said, "If you went back to just before Donald Trump won the 2024 election, people had been feeling bad about the Biden economy almost throughout his entire term."
Positive economic markers but no impact on consumer sentiment
Nearly 80 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more for the Thanksgiving holiday, according to AAA's forecast. The historic number reflects an increase of 1.7 million people compared to last year and 2 million more than in 2019. Low gas prices make traveling by car a little lighter on the wallet.
During Joe Biden's presidency, gas prices spiked dramatically, rising from a national average of about $2.39 per gallon when he took office in January 2021 to a record high of over $5.00 per gallon in June 2022. The average price across Biden's full term ended up at around $3.45 per gallon, unadjusted for inflation, the highest price for any presidential term on record.
Under Trump's second term in 2025, gas prices have returned to extremely low levels, dropping below $3 per gallon nationally for the first time since 2021 and hitting a four-year low around $3.08 as of November, thanks to increased OPEC+ oil production, plentiful global supply, and Trump's pro-drilling energy policies aimed at unleashing American dominance.
Even the Turkey Day meal will be easier on bank accounts this year. Walmart's 2025 Thanksgiving meal package is priced at approximately $40 for 10 people, reflecting a roughly 25% reduction from the 2024 bundle that cost around $55 for eight people, allowing families to enjoy holiday essentials at under $4 per person.
This significant drop in cost highlights Trump's economic efforts, which have cooled inflation and grocery prices since he took office, making traditional celebrations more affordable for American households. As Trump himself noted, the drop in price highlights his administration's efforts to make life more affordable, even if present polling doesn't reflect it.
The "egg panic" a distant memory
The price of eggs became a symbolic surrogate for the cost of living among critics at the time of Trump's inauguration. Yet another positive marker of an improving economy is largely ignored: The chickens have come home to roost, and they're laying eggs at much lower prices since Trump came into office. The price of a dozen eggs has dropped by more than 60% since Trump's inauguration, bringing the average cost down from nearly $8 to around $2.50.
In the first month of Trump's second term, the White House said “the Biden administration and the Department of Agriculture directed the mass killing of more than 100 million chickens, which has led to a lack of chicken supply in this country, therefore lack of egg supply, which is leading to the shortage.” The cull was ordered by President Biden in order to contain the spread of the highly contagious avian flu that has afflicted 100 million birds since 2022, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins rolled out a $1 billion initiative that fortified farm biosecurity, accelerated poultry restocking with federal incentives, and secured emergency imports from trusted partners such as Turkey and South Korea. The turnaround cut red tape, supercharged domestic production, and leveraged strategic trade — delivering relief in an area that became a campaign talking point last year.
Amanda Head
Source: https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/despite-economic-improvements-americans-still-have-bidenflation-blues
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