Story Highlights
- Only 33% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, lower than Biden’s all-time low of 36% recorded in February 2022
- Trump’s overall job approval stands at 36%, with 59% disapproving — the widest gap in either of his presidential terms
- The share of Republicans strongly approving of Trump dropped from 61% in April to 53% in June, signaling softening intensity within his base
What Happened
The NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll, conducted June 8–11 among 1,340 U.S. adults, found that just one-third of Americans approve of the way President Donald Trump is handling the economy — the lowest figure recorded by the Marist series since 2019. By comparison, former President Joe Biden received a 36% approval rating on the economy at his lowest point in February 2022, making Trump’s current mark three points below that benchmark. The survey carries a margin of error of ±3.0 percentage points.
Trump’s overall approval stands at 36%, the lowest of his second term, while disapproval is at 59% — tying his highest disapproval on record. That figure includes 64% of independents and 17% of Republicans. Separately, disapproval for Trump’s handling of the economy climbed to 60%, which included 65% of independents, 22% of Republicans, and 93% of Democrats.
The erosion in Trump’s support continues to cut across multiple demographic groups central to his 2024 victory. Among Gen Z voters, approval stands at 25%; among Gen X, at 36%; and among those with household incomes below $50,000 annually, approval continued to decline from the last poll. In February 2025, Trump had a net positive approval rating of 22 points among rural Americans, but he is now 10 points underwater with that group. By roughly a 2-to-1 margin, Latino voters disapprove of Trump’s performance.
In a midterm election year where Democrats show more enthusiasm to vote and see a path to regain control of both the House and Senate, 22% of Republicans say they disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy. The share of Republicans who say they strongly approve of his job performance dropped from 61% in April to 53% in June. The survey was conducted before the Iran peace framework was publicly disclosed on June 17, meaning any shift in sentiment tied to that development is not yet captured.
Why It Matters
The results arrive as Republicans prepare to defend congressional majorities in November 2026 without Trump on the ballot. Presidents with approval ratings consistently below 50% see their parties lose an average of 25 House seats in midterm elections; those polling below 40% typically face steeper consequences. Trump’s sustained sub-40% trajectory across multiple polling cycles places the GOP in historically precarious territory heading into a year that structurally favors the opposition party.
The economy was the central pillar of Trump’s 2024 campaign. Affordability promises drove crossover support from Latinos, working-class whites, and independents frustrated with Biden-era inflation. Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, noted that for some voters, “it’s Donald Trump, and that’s where the slippage comes in. He can’t get away with high prices at the pump and at the supermarket and not get tarnished by that.” The reversal of economic trust represents a profound political shift from the conditions that enabled Trump’s return to power.
Democrats show substantially more enthusiasm for the 2026 midterms than Republicans. The NPR/PBS News/Marist poll found a record low share of Americans approving of Trump’s job performance and his handling of the economy heading into the summer before a key midterm election. In midterm elections where the president’s party already faces structural turnout disadvantages, that enthusiasm differential represents a potentially decisive organizing edge for Democrats.
Economic and Global Context
The economic anxiety reflected in the poll flows from several converging pressures. Tariff policies implemented early in Trump’s second term contributed to higher consumer goods prices, and while some tariffs have since been revised, the inflationary pass-through has proven persistent. The U.S.-Iran military conflict that began in autumn 2025 sent energy prices sharply higher, translating directly into the elevated gasoline costs that have weighed on household budgets nationwide throughout the spring.
Gas prices are down about 50 cents per gallon from last month after rising steadily since March, but remain about 79 cents higher than they were last year. Much of the U.S. still sees prices above $4 per gallon. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, noted that consumers may not yet feel relief even as wholesale prices improve. Seventy-eight percent of Americans said gas prices had some effect on their household budgets.
Two-thirds of American adults told pollsters that rising costs had some or a great deal of impact on their plans to take a summer vacation, with 49 percent saying the cost of taking a vacation is stopping them from taking one. On economic competence, Democrats now hold a four-point advantage over Republicans when voters are asked which party would better manage the economy — representing roughly a 20-point swing from 2022, when Republicans led that question by 16 points. The reversal reflects a broad reassessment of partisan economic stewardship.
Implications
For Republican congressional candidates, the poll quantifies a liability difficult to offset with cultural or identity-based messaging. Candidates in competitive districts who campaigned on economic restoration now face constituencies where that promise is viewed as unfulfilled. The same voter groups that powered Trump’s 2024 coalition — Latinos, rural Americans, working-class whites — are registering disproportionate disappointment, narrowing margins Republicans need to hold vulnerable House and Senate seats.
For the White House, the Iran peace deal offers one potential avenue toward economic improvement. If the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz stabilizes global energy markets and reduces retail gas prices materially before November, the administration may partially rehabilitate its economic standing. Energy analysts caution, however, that structural market changes take months to filter through to pump prices, and the political benefit depends entirely on whether consumers feel meaningful relief before Election Day.
The softening of strong Republican approval — from 61% to 53% in two months — also presents a turnout challenge for GOP field operations. If enthusiasm continues to erode through the fall campaign, the composition of the next Congress could shift substantially. A Democratic House or Senate majority would reshape the final two years of Trump’s second term, subjecting the administration to intensified oversight and narrowing its legislative options in ways that could define his presidency’s lasting legacy.
