Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman says allegations of corruption surrounding President Donald Trump and his administration are finally registering with voters, pointing to new polling that suggests the issue could become a significant problem for Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections.

“The cesspit of corruption that is Donald Trump’s presidency is finally getting the attention it deserves,” Krugman wrote Monday on Substack. “It’s about time.”

Krugman, the recipient of the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences who spent more than two decades as a New York Times opinion columnist before moving to Substack in 2024, said controversies involving Trump, his family, and senior administration officials had previously struggled to gain prominence because wars, tariffs, inflation, and other major issues competed for voters' attention. In his latest column, however, he argued that there are increasing indications the corruption problem is finally reaching the general public.

As evidence, Krugman pointed to a recent survey by The Economist and YouGov, conducted September 25–28. According to the poll, 84 percent of Americans believe that most or many of the people running the government are corrupt. Thirty percent of respondents said Republicans are more corrupt than Democrats, 22 percent said Democrats are more corrupt, and another 37 percent saw no difference, saying the level of corruption is about the same for both parties.

The figures among independents stood out to Krugman. That focus is notable because independent voters historically play an outsized role in midterm elections, when turnout is lower and relatively small shifts among swing voters can decide close races. Among that group, 9 percent said the Democrats were more corrupt, while 22 percent said the Republicans were. A majority — 52 percent — believed the two parties were about equally corrupt.

The same poll found that 45 percent of Americans think Trump has used his second term as president to enrich his family and friends. By comparison, 18 percent said he has run an open and transparent administration, and 11 percent said he has set a high moral standard.

Krugman also highlighted an unusual origin for the criticism. “Apparently even the formerly pro-Trumpian Wall Street Journal editorial page has finally reached its gag level,” he wrote.

In an October editorial, the newspaper said the Trump family's businesses might face congressional investigations and subpoenas, citing the call by Republican Senator John Curtis of Utah to investigate reports that a Russian businesswoman helped fund the afterparty at Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding. Trump Jr. and his wife thanked the businessman for his "generosity" and added that this did not necessarily mean there was an agenda behind it. Trump described the arrangement as "totally allowed" and stated that his son had repaid the businessman.

Krugman saw the editorial as proof that the matter has spread beyond Trump's usual critics, noting that even the editorial page of the once pro-Trump Wall Street Journal appears to have reached its limit.

In Krugman's view, the polling indicates that voters have not yet formed a single opinion about political corruption. Still, he maintained that the shift among independents, along with growing public criticism of the Trump family's business activities, demonstrates that Republicans can no longer take it for granted that voters will ignore the issue. With all 435 House seats and roughly one-third of the Senate on the ballot in November, follow-up waves of the survey could show whether the shift he describes holds through Election Day.