The holiday season is supposed to be about giving, but for a lot of Americans, it's turning into a lesson in economic anxiety. A new survey from The Associated Press–NORC Center for Public Affairs Research paints a sobering picture: people are feeling the pinch, and it's showing up in their shopping carts.

Nearly half of survey participants admitted that buying gifts has become noticeably more difficult this year. The culprit? Rising prices across the board for everyday essentials like groceries and electricity, plus those holiday presents that somehow keep getting more expensive. The result is predictable: people are postponing big purchases and cutting back on anything that isn't strictly necessary.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump continues to push back against these economic concerns, even suggesting families should limit their Christmas gift spending. He's repeatedly called affordability issues a "Democrat hoax" and dismissed recent polling data as "fake," claiming the numbers intentionally ignore his administration's accomplishments.

The survey data tells a different story. About 68% of adults rate the U.S. economy as "poor," a figure that hasn't budged since December 2024, before Trump returned to office. Consumer behavior reflects this pessimism: roughly half of Americans are now bargain hunting more aggressively than before, and around four in ten are tapping into their savings more often just to cover expenses.

Here's the interesting part: despite all this economic stress, consumer spending has held relatively steady. People are still buying things, they're just not feeling great about it. And they're not expecting things to improve anytime soon.

To its credit, the White House has acknowledged the economic situation, noting that economic recovery has been central to most of the Trump administration's policy decisions since taking office. Whether that acknowledgment translates into policies that actually ease the financial strain on Americans remains an open question.