WASHINGTON – A mere one-quarter of U.S. adults report that President Donald Trump’s policies have personally benefited them since his inauguration, according to a recent poll that shows limited approval for his handling of significant issues such as the economy, immigration, government expenditure, and health care.
Indeed, the Republican president does not secure majority approval on any topic assessed by the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Notably, his approval rating has slightly dropped in terms of immigration, traditionally a strong area for him during his second term.
Although most Americans regard Trump as at least “somewhat” effective at getting things done, particularly after the approval of his extensive budget bill, a smaller proportion believes he understands the challenges faced by ordinary citizens.
Most don’t see positive impact from Trump’s policies
Roughly half of U.S. adults report that Trump’s policies have “done more to hurt” them since his second term began six months ago, the survey found. About 2 in 10 say his policies have “not made a difference” in their lives, with about one-quarter saying his policies have “done more to help” them.
The vast majority of Democrats and about half of independents say Trump’s policies have had a negative impact, while even many Republicans say they haven’t seen positive effects.
“As it sits today, I don’t know his policies have made much of a difference in my day-to-day life,” said Landon Lindemer, a 29-year-old logistics manager from suburban Atlanta who voted for Trump three times.
Lindemer said he generally approves of Trump’s job performance, even if he has concerns about the massive spending in the big bill the president signed into law on July 4.
“I’m not sold it’s really going to help,” he said.
Low but steady presidential approval ratings
The mixed reviews on Trump’s policies come as he struggles to follow through on key campaign promises, including lowering costs for working-class Americans, preserving popular social welfare programs like Medicaid, ending foreign wars and lowering government spending.
Inflation rose last month to its highest level since February as Trump’s sweeping tariffs push up the cost of everything from groceries and clothes to furniture and appliances. Separately, Trump’s budget bill included Medicaid cuts that will lead to 11.8 million more Americans becoming uninsured and add $3.3 trillion to the national debt, the Congressional Budget Office estimated.
At the same time, violent conflicts still rage in Israel and Ukraine.
Overall, the new poll finds that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of Trump’s job performance, a figure that’s in line with his June approval but historically weak compared with recent presidents. Closer to half of U.S. adults approved of President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama at roughly the same point in their Democratic presidencies, according to polls from AP-NORC and Gallup, although Biden’s approval rating declined in the second half of his first year and remained low for the rest of his time in office.
Poll respondent Bailey Neill, a 42-year-old attorney from San Antonio, said he was “terrified” of Trump.
Neill, a Democrat who describes himself as a “student of history,” cast Trump as an authoritarian who has followed the controversial playbook outlined in Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for transformative changes across the federal government that Trump tried to distance himself from before the November election.
“In terms of my day-to-day life, I really haven’t seen a change, except for the general fear and anxiety I feel at a core level,” Neill said.
Most disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration, economy and more
Trump earned less than 50% approval on every issue included in the new AP-NORC poll, including the economy, government spending, trade, taxes, immigration, health care and his handling of the conflict in the Middle East.
Only 43% of U.S. adults said they approved of his handling of immigration, down slightly from the 49% who supported his work on the issue back in March.
Trump also appears to have lost some support for his spending decisions. About 4 in 10 Americans approve of Trump’s handling of government spending, down from 46% in March.
On the economy overall, roughly 4 in 10 adults approve of Trump’s performance, which hasn’t changed measurably in the last few months.
Timothy Dwyer, of Dyersburg, Tennessee, a 26-year-old self-described independent who works in retail sales and leans Republican, said Trump’s work on the economy, especially his tariffs, has “really sucked.”
“He’s turned us into a toilet and has absolutely made us the laughing stock of the world,” Dwyer said of Trump’s trade policies, while also lamenting the president’s work on reducing grocery prices and health care.
Most view Trump as effective, but fewer think he understands their needs
Despite such criticism, most U.S. adults think Trump is at least somewhat effective.
About 6 in 10 say “capable of getting things done” describes Trump at least “somewhat” well. And about half of U.S. adults say the same about the phrases “good negotiator” or “capable of handling a crisis.”
That doesn’t mean they believe Trump can see things from their perspective.
Most Americans, 56%, say “understands the problems facing people like you” is a phrase that describes Trump “not very well” or “not well at all.” His numbers on the question are relatively weak even among those in his party: Just about half of Republicans say he understands the problems facing people like them “extremely” or “very” well.
“I think he’s doing quite well. He could be doing a hell of a lot worse,” said poll respondent Levi Fischer, of Marshalltown, Iowa, who voted for Trump three times.
Still, Fischer acknowledged that he hasn’t seen the economy improve as quickly as he hoped. Trump’s policies, he said, “don’t make much difference in my life.”
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Peoples reported from New York.
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,437 adults was conducted July 10-14, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
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