With nearly one month left in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second presidency, approval ratings from voters have flipped.
Here’s how the economy could be weighing down the approval rating for the president, despite the stock market trading near record highs.
Trump’s Approval Rating Declines in 2025
Concerns about the economy, unemployment and inflation may be hurting the approval rating for Trump, according to a new voter poll from Emerson College.
In the poll, 41% of voters approve of Trump, with 50% disapproving of the president. This is a slight change from the 41% approval and 49% disapproval ratings in November.
The polling company notes the president’s approval and disapproval numbers “have flipped since his inaugural survey.”
Back in January, Trump had an approval rating of 49% and a disapproval rating of 41% from the Emerson College poll. Now, in the last poll of the year, the ratings have essentially reversed and it’s come with a steady decline since inauguration.
Trump’s approval rating was higher than his disapproval rating from January through March. In April, the ratings tied at 45% each. After that, Trump’s disapproval rating was higher than his approval rating in each month.
The poll asked voters to grade Trump on key items like immigration, the economy, affordability and health care.
Trump received A’s on immigration from 37% of voters and F’s from 36% of voters. This was the only key issue of the four where the president got a higher percentage of A grades than Fs.
For the grade on the economy, voters gave the following:
- A grade: 22%
- B grade: 19%
- C grade: 13%
- D grade: 11%
- F grade: 36%
Trump received 17% A’s for affordability and 14% A’s for health care.
The economy was listed as the top issue for voters in the poll at 38%, followed by threats to democracy, health care and immigration.
Read Also: Trump Trumpets Dow’s Record High, Sidesteps S&P 500
Trump’s Economy
President Trump recently said that inflation is essentially gone, but voters across the country are feeling higher prices across several sectors and everyday items.
Trump was recently asked what grade he would give the economy. The president told Politico that he would give the economy an “A+” and followed his response up by saying he would give it an “A+++++.”
The Emerson College poll shows that most voters disagree with an A rating and many actually would give the president a F for his handling of the economy.
The president has boasted about stock market indexes such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting all-time highs.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY), which tracks the S&P 500, is up 16.2% year-to-date and trading near all-time highs.
If the year ended today, the SPY’s return would only be the seventh best of the last 10 years.
Record highs for the stock market aren’t winning over voter support and could be bad news for the Republican party going forward.
In the poll, 44% of voters said they would back a Democratic candidate versus 42% supporting a Republican candidate, with 15% undecided in a generic poll with no names for the 2028 election. Fifteen percent of voters were undecided.
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