President Donald Trump’s political standing has taken a polling hit in the year since he was sworn in for his second term, as some of his key political strengths have become weaknesses.
Trump’s standing as one of the most polarizing figures in modern American political history has been both a blessing and a curse for him. His approval rating only a few months into his second term (47% in a March poll by NBC News) fell below his predecessors’ early marks, but it also matched his best showing from his first term, as he’s been buoyed this time by an energized Republican Party base remade in his image.
Americans’ views of Trump have declined over the course of his first year back in office, with approval ratings hovering around 40% in public polls released in the last few weeks, with some variance as high as 45% but as low as 39%. That’s roughly where he was after the first year of his first term, around where President Joe Biden stood at this time in his term, and somewhat lower than several other recent presidencies one year in.
As Trump’s approval rating has ticked down, he’s also lost ground on issues that helped propel him into the White House. He told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” a month after his 2024 victory, “I won on the border, and I won on groceries.” But voter views of his handling of immigration enforcement and the economy have declined over the past year.
The specific issue of border security, though, has remained one of Trump’s biggest strengths, according to the available polling.
Altogether, Trump’s struggles on some key issues could be setting up a tough political environment for the GOP going into this fall’s midterm elections, which are typically a referendum on the president’s party. Republicans are already trailing by several points on the question of which party voters would like to see control Congress next year, and the Republican advantage on the economy relative to Democrats has narrowed, too.
Economy
Americans have largely soured on Trump’s handling of the economy, particularly the cost of living and high prices. Those attitudes have effectively erased his long-held advantage on the issue, creating headaches for Republicans at the ballot box.
Americans have been especially wary about Trump’s sweeping tariffs, a signature policy of his first year in office.
Trump closed out his first term in 2020 with majorities approving of how he handled the economy, even as he went on to lose that election to Biden. In his comeback campaign, he enjoyed double-digit advantages over then-Vice President Kamala Harris on the economy and the cost of living when he defeated her in 2024.
During the first few months of Trump’s current term, his approval rating on the economy hovered in the mid-40s, but it has since dropped several points.
An AP-NORC survey conducted Jan. 8-11 found 37% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling the economy, while a Reuters-Ipsos survey conducted Jan. 12-13 found his economic approval rating at 34%, while 30% approved of his handling of inflation. The Wall Street Journal found those ratings slightly higher: 44% approval on the economy and 41% on inflation and rising prices.
An NBC News poll from late October found around two-thirds of registered voters said Trump and his administration had fallen short of their expectations on inflation and the cost of living, looking out for the middle class and the economy. Around one-third said Trump had lived up to their expectations on those issues.
And an NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey conducted in late November and early December illustrated why those low economic ratings are such an issue for the White House. It showed 44% of Americans, the largest share in the poll, saying inflation and the cost of living was the economic issue that mattered most to them and their families. The next closest issue, at 13%, was health care costs.
Trump, meanwhile, has oscillated between touting measures to address concerns about high costs and arguing that such concerns are being overblown by his political opponents.
“In the coming weeks, I will be laying out even more plans to help bring back affordability,” the president said during a speech in Detroit last week. “And again, remember, that’s a fake word by Democrats.”
Trump also touted his tariff agenda in that speech, saying they “have delivered us trillions of dollars of new investment, unprecedented new partnerships on minerals, rare earths, defense and artificial intelligence, and historic levels of foreign military sales.”
But a December CBS/YouGov survey found 63% of Americans oppose the U.S. placing new tariffs on goods from other countries, with 68% saying they drove up prices in 2025 and 59% saying they expect tariffs to drive up prices in 2026.
Recent polling has also shown why struggling on the economy could be a problem for Trump as voters cast their ballots later this year.
The NBC News poll from October found 38% of registered voters saying Republicans would do a better job handling the economy, while 37% said Democrats would be the better choice on the issue. That was the smallest advantage Republicans have had on the issue since 2017.
And the NBC News Decision Desk Poll conducted late last year found a narrow majority of U.S. adults saying they trust the Democratic Party to handle the rising price of everyday things compared to the Republican Party, 53%-47%.
Immigration
Trump’s aggressive promises on immigration and border security were a centerpiece of his campaign, too. But Americans’ broad ratings on his handling of immigration, in particular, have declined since he took office.
When Trump returned to the White House, polling regularly had him near, or clearing, majority approval on immigration and border security.
Polling last month from Fox and AP-NORC still found Trump with a slim majority approval rating on border security. But he fares worse when respondents are asked about immigration as a separate issue.
Trump’s approval on immigration across a handful of polls — conducted by CBS/YouGov, Fox News and Quinnipiac — in the final month of 2025 came in around the mid-40s, while the Wall Street Journal poll came in at 48%. And early January polling from CNN and AP-NORC — conducted largely after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis — found Trump’s approval ratings on immigration at 42% and 38%, respectively.
There are still some relative bright spots for Trump on the issue. CNBC’s December poll found adults relatively split on Trump’s handling of “deporting illegal immigrants,” and a CBS/YouGov poll from the same month found that a majority of adults said Trump’s policies are decreasing the number of migrants crossing the border with Mexico.
Since the start of Trump’s second term, polling has shown Americans are far more supportive of deporting immigrants who have committed other crimes after entering the country illegally than they are of more widespread deportations. The public has been especially sour on deporting those with American children or those who have been in America for many years.
The January CNN poll found 52% of adults said Trump has gone too far when it comes to deporting immigrants living in the country illegally, while 31% said the administration has struck the right balance.
At this point, it’s unclear what long-term political fallout, if any, Trump and his administration could face from the aftermath of the ICE shooting in Minneapolis. Polling from Quinnipiac found that 57% of registered voters disapproved of how ICE is enforcing immigration laws broadly, and CNN found that 51% of adults said ICE enforcement is making American cities less safe, while 31% said the enforcement is making cities safer.
Foreign policy
Trump’s high-stakes foreign policy moves have generated some of the biggest headlines of his first year in office, particularly in the second half of last year.
Overall, his approval rating on foreign policy has hovered around 40% in recent polling, a slight decline from the mid-40s at the start of his term.
More broadly, the late October NBC News poll found that 53% of registered voters said his administration has fallen short of their expectations on foreign policy, while 44% said it’s lived up to expectations. And a new CNN poll found that 57% of adults think that Trump’s foreign policy decisions have hurt America’s standing in the world, while 31% say they’ve helped.
Americans have been split over the administration’s decision to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. But as the Trump administration moves to exert influence on the new government and the South American nation’s oil production, polling from CBS/YouGov and CNN found that majorities disapprove of Trump’s handling of the broader situation in Venezuela.
On another part of Trump’s Venezuela strategy, Fox News’ mid-December poll found Americans split on the use of deadly force against suspected drug-trafficking boats. Forty-seven percent favored it, while 53% opposed it.
Trump has also played a central role in peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas, earning varied ratings across a range of different polls and questions.
NBC polling in late October found registered voters about evenly split on the issue. A late December Economist/YouGov poll of adults found Trump’s approval on the issue far lower, at just one-third of adults, but a quarter of respondents said they weren’t sure. The varied responses suggest Americans are still making up their minds about the ceasefire in Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip and the U.S. role in it.
That same Economist/YouGov poll found Trump with low marks on his handling of the war between Russia and Ukraine: 31% approving and 49% disapproving. Fifty-three percent want America to either increase military aid to Ukraine or maintain the same amount, while 27% want to decrease or stop military aid to the country.
New polling also shows Americans skeptical about Trump’s push to buy Greenland — and clearly against seizing it with military force.
Other issues
Health care is looming as a potentially major issue in this year’s midterms. Congress has failed to reach a deal on extending insurance subsidies for plans purchased via Affordable Care Act exchanges, causing premiums to increase for millions of people. And the White House has signaled that the administration also sees health care as a top issue, with Trump rolling out his own plan last week that proposed shifting subsidies from insurers to consumers.
Polling has shown Americans broadly disapprove of how Trump has handled the issue. A Fox News poll from late December found his health care approval rating at 37% among registered voters, with 20% saying Trump should pay more attention to the issue, second only to high prices.
Trump’s poll numbers over the last year have been buoyed by persistent backing from core supporters, including those who identify themselves as members of the “Make America Great Again” movement.
But one of the few exceptions has been Trump’s handling of the files related to the investigation into the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with the issue causing rare breaks from Trump among some Republicans in Congress. In the most recent NBC News Decision Desk Poll, 71% of Americans, including 27% of MAGA supporters, disapproved of Trump’s handling of the issue.
There are also some broader signals of discomfort with Trump’s agenda.
The Wall Street Journal poll found that 48% of registered voters said Trump is “using the office for personal gain beyond what other politicians do,” and another 13% said he’s using the office for personal gain “as much as any other politician.” Thirty-five percent said he isn’t using his office for personal gain.
And the recent CNN poll found that a majority of adults said Trump has gone too far on things like his changes to the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian, trying to “expand America’s power over other countries,” his use of executive and military power, and cutting government programs.
