Financial Times is reporting that under President Donald Trump, corruption has become a key source of American discontent in the closing days of midterm election campaigning.

A large majority of US voters say they are worried about graft in Donald Trump’s second administration.

About 69 per cent of registered voters, and almost 50 per cent of those who voted for the president in 2024, said they were “very” or “somewhat” concerned about “corruption, self-dealing or conflicts of interest” in the Trump administration, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the FT and Focaldata.

Nearly half of all registered voters also said corruption had been more of a problem during Trump’s second term compared with previous administrations.

The findings come as Americans grapple with soaring fuel costs and high prices linked to Trump’s unpopular war with Iran.

“When a family reads a story about presidential crypto profits at the same time as they are deciding whether they should put off their expensive doctor’s appointment, they see that the system is working for someone — just not for them,” said Jeremy Ney, a Columbia Business School professor.

“Voters can tolerate some economic pain, as long as they believe it is shared,” said Ney, who recently wrote a book on US affordability issues. “But when that pain only flows in one direction, discontent boils to the surface.”

Also read: Barack Obama says Donald Trump is corrupt ahead of midterm elections