CNN’s John King Says It’s ‘Not Fair’ to Expect Trump to Lower Costs on Day One: ‘The President Exaggerates’

Tommy ChristopherMar 4th, 2025, 9:14 pm

CNN anchor John King told viewers it’s “not fair” to expect President Donald Trump to make good on his promise to immediately lower prices, noting on Tuesday night that “the president exaggerates a lot.”

Trump spent months promising to “end inflation” and that prices would “come down, and they’ll come down fast” if he was elected.

But Trump changed his tune just weeks after that victory, first telling NBC News that he could not “guarantee” prices would come down and then telling Time, “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard.”

King reported on the the shift as he ticked through some of Trump’s poll numbers during CNN’s coverage of Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress:

ERIN BURNETT: How is all of this playing out? How do Americans feel already? Just, you know, 40 some odd days into Trump’s second term. John King is at the magic wall.

So, John, how how are you able to, you know, judge, to gauge how all of this is falling on the American public?

JOHN KING: Well, Erin, a number of ways to look at it. So let’s get straight to it.

One of it is worse, the president’s approval rating. And how does that rate to other presidents when they did this? Not a state of the Union, but in your first term, you get an address to the Congress.

Well, President Trump right now has a 48% approval rating. If you look, going back almost 45 years, 44 years to Ronald Reagan in 1981, that is the lowest number, except for Donald Trump in 2017.

So Donald Trump, in his first term after the contested 2016 election and all of that, had a low standing. He’s higher now. That’s about what he got on Election day, right? 49% of the national vote. He’s at 48% now. I think it’s safe to say presidents don’t get a honeymoon like they used to anymore. We live in a very polarized country.

So he hasn’t slipped, but he hasn’t grown in the 43 days since he’s been in office. Now, we know Donald Trump is a very divisive figure. Well, these numbers show it out.

90% of Republicans approve of the job he’s doing. So far, 90% of Democrats, 9 in 10 disapprove of the job he’s doing so far. If you’re a House Republican, trying to protect your tiny majority. You’re worried about this number a little bit. Donald Trump has lost a little ground among independents since Election Day. That’s something to watch as we go forward.

Again. 43 days in. Let’s not rush to judgment, but the early numbers are not great for Donald Trump. They might not be miserable, but they’re not great.

These numbers are a little troubling for the president. He’s trying to sell his agenda to Congress and to the American people. Is Donald Trump taking the country in the wrong direction, the right direction or no opinion? Well, 45%. That’s not a majority, but 45% say the wrong direction.

Only 39%. 4 in 10 say the right direction and 15% aren’t so sure. 43 days in. So. Remember this 39% number 39% say Trump is right heading in the right direction.

Then we ask, has he paid enough attention to the top priorities, the most important problems in the country? 52% say he has not. About the same as his base. This is his base. 40% say he has. So 39% say, you know, we’re going in the right direction. 40% say has the right policies. That’s the Trump base. You need more than your base to sell things. 8% say they have no opinion.

This is where Erin the warning signs for the president more clear and evident.

He said on day one he would lower costs. Now that’s not fair! The president exaggerates a lot. That’s how he conducts himself. It’s not fair to judge a president like this.

Erin, let me throw back to you as you see the president leaving the White House.