(The Hill) President Donald Trump’s approval ratings remain underwater as he gets mixed reviews on his immigration crackdown, economic handling and foreign policy five months into his second administration. 

Trump’s approval on the economy, one of his biggest strengths throughout 2024, has appeared to improve slightly after taking a hit from chaotic tariff moves and stock market losses earlier this year, though it largely remains negative. And support for his handling of immigration, while still his strongest issue, has shown signs of weakening as he pursues his campaign promise of mass deportations. 

At the same time, his favorability and job approval numbers have ticked up slightly since the Israel-Iran ceasefire took hold, noted Scott Tranter, the director of data science for Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) signaling some recovery even as the figures remain significantly lower than they were when Trump took office. 

Here’s what voters think of Trump’s job performance and moves on major issues heading into the July 4 holiday weekend: 

Overall job approval

Trump started his second term with some of his highest approval numbers but crossed into net-negative territory this spring amid blowback over his whiplash moves on tariffs.

After hitting a disapproval high in April, his numbers started to recover slightly in May and early June, according to averages from DDHQ. Last month, though, his numbers sank again, with a roughly 45 percent approval and 51 percent disapproval rating. 

At the same time, DDHQ’s tracker has seen some improvement for Trump, as last week his net approval reached minus-8 points.  

“Both favorability and job approval numbers for President Trump had an uptrend since last week’s ending of the Iranian conflict,” Tranter said. “We are seeing a range for both of these metrics that is for now, higher than the range was in his first term.”

“So, over the course of last week, it’s gone up. But it is certainly lower than it was post-inauguration.”

Gallup’s tracker puts Trump at a 40 percent approval rating as of early June, before developments including the U.S. strikes against Iran. That figure is not far from the 38 percent approval he logged in June of 2017, during his first term, but is well behind former President Biden’s 56 percent at this point during the Democrat’s first year. 

New polling from The Economist/YouGov conducted June 27-30 found Trump with a net approval of minus 11 points, down from a minus 4 point net approval at the end of May. An Emerson College Polling survey taken last week found a similar slide, with Trump once again underwater.

Economy

In a positive sign for the president, his economic numbers appear to be in recovery mode after his aggressive trade moves earlier this year dealt a blow to his approval.

A tracker from pollster Nate Silver shows Trump’s approval rating on the economy has appeared to even out after a significant downturn in March and April, now sitting at a minus-12 net rating. 

Trump had a 43 percent approval rating on jobs and the economy in the latest Economist/YouGov numbers, on par with the 42 percent logged at the end of last month though he fell on inflation and prices from a negative 15 points to a minus-24 net score. 

Americans’ assessments of the economy improved slightly in Gallup’s June Economic Confidence Index, climbing from minus 22 points in April to minus 18 points in May and then minus 14 points this month.

Trump scored a major legislative win this week when Congress passed his “big, beautiful bill,” sending the sweeping package that could add trillions to the federal deficit to Trump’s desk. Approval for the bill has been underwater in some polling, and it remains to be seen how its passage could impact the president’s broader numbers. 

Immigration

Immigration, another issue that bolstered Trump through both of his presidential campaigns, continues to be one of his strong suits in his second term, but some new polls suggest support for his hard-line stances are slacking. 

“He’s lost ground,” Tranter said. “Some polls show he is underwater, and some are back and forth. So I think the consensus is: We can argue whether or not he still has a net positive support on immigration or not, but we can say that it’s gone down.”

The Economist/YouGov poll had Trump’s approval on immigration at a positive net 7 points at the end of May, before it flipped to a net negative 3 points at the end of June. 

In the first few months of his second term, Trump has spearheaded a deportation blitz and worked to end birthright citizenship as part of a major crackdown on immigration. After Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workplace raids sparked protests in Los Angeles last month, Trump sent thousands of National Guard members and Marines to California as he clashed with Democrats over the issue. 

A new poll from PBS News, NPR and Marist released this week found a minus-9 point net approval rating for Trump’s immigration handling.  

A majority of Americans, or 54 percent, described ICE’s actions to uphold immigration laws as having “gone too far,” a figure bolstered largely by Democrats and independents. Meanwhile, 49 percent of surveyed Republicans described the actions as appropriate.  

Foreign policy

Trump sent shock waves through the political world in late June when he announced that the U.S. had bombed three Iranian nuclear sites, inserting the U.S. into a tense conflict between Israel and Iran in the Middle East. 

The president then brokered a fragile ceasefire that ended the 12-day conflict, and he has touted that the U.S. strikes “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear threat, even as some have called that claim into question. 

“He’s riding high after Iran,” Tranter said of Trump, calling it “a clear win” for the commander in chief as he pointed to Trump’s approval uptick over the past week. 

But Americans in the PBS News polling were divided about the U.S. strikes, with a 50-50 split on agreement with the military action. More than 8 in 10 surveyed Republicans supported the strikes, compared with 45 percent of independents and 23 percent of Democrats. Three in 4 Americans also worried that Iran could retaliate after the U.S. strikes.

Americans in CNN polling were even more disapproving, with 56 percent of those surveyed against and 44 percent for the strikes, and 6 in 10 worried that the strikes could increase the Iranian threat to the U.S.  

Meanwhile, Trump announced this week that Israel agreed to conditions that could finalize a 60-day ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza amid a conflict that has ravaged the Gaza Strip for nearly two years. 

If that deal goes through, it could mark the “next theoretical big win” for Trump, Tranter said. 

Quinnipiac polling from mid-June found low approval for Trump’s Israel-Hamas handling, at just 35 percent. He got similar marks, 34 percent approval, for his approach to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, a three-year conflict Trump has repeatedly claimed would not have happened on his watch.

Trump struggled to make progress toward an end in fighting, lashing out at various points at both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.