Trump's management of the economy hits its lowest point, poll finds

President Trump to deliver speech on economy

Associated Press reporter Will Weissert joins LiveNOW's Mike Pache to preview President Trump's Tuesday night speech on the economy in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump is seeing notable declines in public support for his handling of the economy and immigration, according to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. 

The findings suggest that two of the core issues that helped propel him to victory may now be becoming political vulnerabilities as Republicans begin preparing for the 2026 midterm elections.

Trump’s approval on economy, immigration falls

By the numbers:

The survey showed that just 31% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy — a sharp drop from 40% in March and the lowest rating he has received on that issue in any AP-NORC poll across either of his terms. 

U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a roundtable discussion with farmers in the Cabinet Room of the White House on December 08, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Just a few months ago, 53% of Americans approved of Trump’s handling of crime, but that’s fallen to 43% in the new poll. There’s been a similar decline on immigration, from 49% approval in March to 38% now.

Trump’s overall approval hasn’t fallen steeply

The other side:

Despite this, Trump’s overall approval hasn’t fallen as steeply. 

The new poll found that 36% of Americans approve of the way he’s handling his job as president, which is down slightly from 42% in March. 

This signals that even if some people aren’t happy with elements of his approach, they might not be ready to say he’s doing a bad job as president. And while discontent is increasing among Republicans on certain issues, they’re largely still behind him.

In addition, border security remains a relatively strong issue for him. Half of U.S. adults, 50%, approve of how Trump is handling border security, which is just slightly lower than the 55% who approved in September.

Two-thirds of adults say country’s economy is ‘poor’

Big picture view:

More broadly, though, there’s no sign that Americans think the economy has improved since Trump took over. About two-thirds of U.S. adults, 68%, continue to say the country’s economy is "poor." That’s unchanged from the last time the question was asked in October, and it’s broadly in line with views throughout Biden’s last year in office.

Another FOX News Poll, published last month, found that three quarters of voters viewed the economy negatively – with 76% of respondents saying that national economic conditions are either "not so good" or "poor" in their views, according to the Fox News poll.

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Voters had similarly negative views about their personal financial situations, with 60% rating them as not good or poor, while 40% said they're in good or excellent shape financially.

A 61% majority of voters said they disapproved of how Trump was handling the economy, while 38% expressed approval. While 77% of Republicans said they approved of the president's handling of the economy, just 25% of independents and 6% of Democrats expressed approval.