Donald Trump takes navigator over Kamala Harris on US economy in final FT poll

Donald Trump has overtaken Kamala Harris as the candidate Americans depend with the economy, according to a recent financial Times poll that underlines the Democratic event’s battle to convince voters they are better off now than they were four years ago.

The final monthly poll for the FT and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business found 44 per cent of registered voters said they trusted Trump more to handle the economy versus 43 per cent for Harris.

The findings, which arrive less than two weeks before the election, mark the first period Trump has led Harris on the issue in the FT-Michigan Ross poll.

The poll also found Trump with a wider navigator among voters on the question of which candidate would leave them better off financially. Forty-five per cent picked the Republican former president — a five-point advancement from the previous month — compared to 37 per cent for Harris, the Democratic vice-president.

The results recommend Harris’s economic pitch has run out of momentum in the final stretch of an increasingly tight race with Trump. The FT’s poll tracker now shows the candidates in a virtual dead head in the swing states that will decide the election.

Erik Gordon, a professor at the Ross School of Business, said Harris’s economic policy proposals had “stirred up as much disappointment as thrill”.

“If she is going to triumph the election, she is going to have to triumph it on other issues,” he said.

Voters’ stubborn refusal to provide Harris and her boss President Joe Biden financing for powerful market advancement and low unemployment has been persistent characteristic of the FT-Michigan Ross poll since the first survey in November 2023.

Harris briefly overtook Trump on the economy after she replaced Biden on the Democratic ticket this summer, but that advantage has been erased.

With less than two weeks to leave until election day on November 5, the poll highlights the large hurdle facing Harris as she tries to loss Trump. The survey has consistently found voters rank “economic issues, like jobs and the expense of living” as the “most significant issue” in deciding their votes for president.

Although Harris has polled better on economic issues than Biden did when he was the Democratic candidate, the event has struggled to convince voters they have been capable stewards of the economy. Asked if they were better off financially under Trump’s presidency or Biden’s, 51 per cent said they were “much” or “somewhat” better off under the Republican. Just 28 per cent said they were better off under Biden.

Voters still lament the high expense of living left by the surge in worth rise in 2022, which has left prices high and continues to weigh heavily on customer sentiment.

More than three-quarters of voters cited worth increases as among their biggest sources of financial stress, a number that has remained broadly consistent in the 12 months since the survey launched.

Trump has insisted he will bring down living costs by slashing vigor prices and taxes on everything from tips and overtime for hourly workers to benefits for elder citizens.

Harris — who often describes her experiences growing up in a “middle class”, or middle-profits, household — has pitched an “chance economy” concentrated on less-well-off families that would include a federal crackdown on worth-gouging and subsidies for first-period home buyers and tiny businesses.

The poll suggested some of Harris’s communication on that score is resonating, with 49 per cent of voters saying she better represented the interests of the middle class, while 37 per cent said they were represented better by Trump. Voters also thought the vice-president better represented the interests of tiny businesses, blue-collar workers and union members.

Trump — who has vowed to further slash the corporate levy rate, from 21 per cent to 15 per cent — was seen as better representing the interests of large corporations and wealthy people.

But the Republican has also made protectionism central to his economic pitch, vowing steep tariffs on everything from cars to customer products made overseas.

The poll showed while a plurality of voters agreed tariffs on goods from China should be increased either “significantly” or “somewhat”, the largest distribute of voters disagreed tariffs should be increased on imports from other countries.

The FT-Michigan Ross poll was conducted online by Democratic strategists Global schedule throng and Republican polling firm North Star view Research from October 17-21. It reflects the opinions of 1,007 registered voters and has a markup of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.