(cache)Donald Trump’s approval rating

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Last updated on February 18th 2026

Last March, less than two months into his second term, Donald Trump declared in a long speech to a joint session of Congress that “the American Dream is unstoppable” and that “and our country is on the verge of a comeback.” The president’s net approval rating—now -17—suggests that Americans have yet to feel it.

They are especially unhappy about the way the Trump administration has carried out its crackdown on immigration. Federal agents killed two Americans in Minneapolis in January. The administration is winding down the operation in that city. Even so, Democrats are blocking funding of The Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for immigration enforcement. Unless the standoff is resolved, when Mr Trump gives his next speech to Congress–the State of the Union speech on February 24th–the government will be partially shut down.

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Net approval rating by issue

Americans are also worried about prices. Though Mr Trump’s net approval rating on this issue has risen from -34 in October to -24, it is still negative. That might change when tax cuts approved by the president take effect and jumbo-sized refund cheques start arriving in post boxes after tax-filing season ends in April. Or these giveaways might drive up inflation, angering Americans more.

Net approval rating by state

Using YouGov’s data, The Economist has projected Mr Trump’s approval rating state by state. As you might expect, approval of Mr Trump is lowest in states that tend to vote for Democrats and highest in those that tend to vote for Republicans. Mr Trump’s voters still overwhelmingly approve of his performance as president. But the projection also shows how dissatisfaction with Mr Trump is widespread even in states that voted for him in 2024. The numbers will make anxious reading for Republicans facing competitive races in this year’s midterm elections.

Trump’s net approval rating by demographic, % points

As with other Republican politicians before him, white and male voters are among the most likely to approve of Mr Trump’s job performance, while younger voters and members of ethnic minorities are among the most strongly disapproving. People who have the most education—college graduates and postgrads—are least likely to support Mr Trump. Voters of pension age, normally a solidly Republican bloc, are also surprisingly lukewarm on the president.

What is the most important issue facing America?

% responding by party

Some political issues disproportionately concern political partisans. Immigration is a key issue for Mr Trump’s Republican base, as are taxes and government spending. Democrats are more worried about health care and climate change. The chart above shows the most important issues among American adults and members of each party.

Most important issues, 2017-2026

Karl Marx said that men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please. That goes for Mr Trump as much as for anyone else. Public opinion in Mr Trump’s first term came to be dominated by concern about health care, especially after the outbreak of covid-19. The economic effects of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 made inflation a defining issue of Mr Biden’s presidency. The chart above shows which issues have been most important to American adults since 2017, based on weekly survey data from YouGov. ■

Sources:

YouGov/The Economist; BLS; Cooperative Election Study; US Census; Current Population Survey; FiftyPlusOne; Pew Research Centre; The Economist

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Donald Trump's term

Net approval rating, % points

Net approval rating by issue

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