President Donald Trump told NBC News he is "very proud" of the U.S. economy and declared the country is now operating under his economic leadership. In a pre-Super Bowl interview that aired Sunday, Trump was asked whether America had entered the "Trump economy." "I'd say we're there now."

That's not hedging. That's a president planting his flag — and doing so at a moment when the polling landscape looks unfriendly.

An NPR-Marist-PBS News poll released Thursday showed 36% approval and 59% disapproval on Trump's handling of the economy, the Washington Examiner reported. That disapproval number climbed from 57% the previous month, and pollsters noted it marks the highest negative economic rating in either of Trump's two terms.

So why would a president accept ownership of an economy that polls say voters distrust? Because polls measure sentiment — not trajectory.

The gap between polling and the pitch

Trump has never been a president who governs by approval rating, and this moment is no different. He claimed responsibility for lower gas prices and has been making the case on the road, including a stop in Michigan, where he touted tariffs as a tool to shrink the trade deficit and boost domestic manufacturing.

The same NPR-Marist-PBS News survey found that 56% of respondents believe imposing tariffs on foreign countries hurts the U.S. economy, while just 31% said tariffs help. That's a messaging problem — but not necessarily a policy problem. Tariff skepticism has been baked into media coverage since Trump's first term. The question is whether outcomes eventually shift the narrative the way they did before.

Trump isn't waiting for polls to catch up. Since November's state elections — where Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York hammered the affordability issue on their way to victory — he launched a nationwide tour defending his administration's economic policies. Michigan was one of the stops. The strategy is clear: don't cede the economic conversation to Democrats who weaponized it in off-year races.

Democrats and the disappearing talking point

Trump, characteristically, used the interview to go on offense. He pinned the economic mess on his predecessor and dismissed Democratic criticism as a rotating carousel of outrage.

"They're the ones that caused the problem. I took over a mess in every way."

Then came the sharper jab:

"The Democrats have gone to another subject. I think they're probably saying, 'Dictator!' or something. They've got a new word. They don't use the word 'affordability' anymore because prices are way down."

Whether prices have dropped enough to satisfy the average household is a separate debate. But the political observation carries weight. Democrats rode "affordability" to wins in November. If they've moved off that message, it's worth asking why. Either they believe the issue has cooled — which undercuts their economic doom narrative — or they've found a new panic button they think polls better. Neither option suggests confidence in their own economic argument.

This is the pattern. The left cycles through crisis language the way cable news cycles through chyrons. Affordability. Democracy. Dictator. Each word serves a campaign window, then gets shelved when the next rotation demands fresh ammunition. Trump's point isn't subtle, but it doesn't need to be — it's observable.

November's lesson and the road ahead

The November elections were a genuine warning shot. Affordability proved to be the issue that determined outcomes in key gubernatorial races, and Democrats exploited it effectively. That's not something to dismiss.

But it's also not something to overread. Off-year state races often turn on local grievances amplified by the national mood. The economy Trump inherited from Biden carried real baggage — inflation that ate into paychecks, energy costs that squeezed working families, a general sense that Washington had spent too much and delivered too little. Digging out of that hole doesn't happen in one quarter, and it doesn't show up in approval ratings before it shows up in wallets.

Trump's nationwide tour is a bet that the ground is shifting faster than the polls reflect. It's also a bet that voters will eventually credit the man who accepted responsibility over the party that spent four years denying there was a problem.

Ownership as strategy

There's a reason most politicians dodge economic ownership when numbers look rough. It's safer to blame Congress, blame the Fed, blame global headwinds. Trump did none of that. He pointed at the Biden administration, said he inherited a mess, and then said the economy is his now.

That's a gamble — but it's also the only play that builds credibility. If the economy improves and Trump has already claimed it, he wins twice. If it stalls, he was going to take the blame anyway. The difference is that ownership projects confidence, and confidence is its own economic signal.

A 36% approval rating on the economy is a number. It is not a verdict. Verdicts come at the ballot box — and Trump has made it clear he intends to be standing next to the scoreboard when they do.