Americans aren’t thrilled with how President Donald Trump is handling the economy, despite the economy and immigration being his top-performing issues in polls leading up to the election.
The president’s overall job approval ratings are barely distinguishable from how he’s polling on the economy, according to The Center Square Voters’ Voice poll conducted by Noble Predictive Insights. Among the more than 2,500 registered voters surveyed, 44% indicated they approved of how the president is doing his job and 43% approved of how he’s handling the economy. More than half – 53% and 54%, respectively – indicated they were unhappy with his economic and overall job performance.
“Unlike [his] first term, Trump’s overall approval rating is absolutely tied to his economic approval rating,” said David Byler, Chief of Research for Noble Predictive Insights. “In the past, people said they disliked Trump personally, but they gave him good marks on the economy. No longer – these two things are married now.”
Tariffs and trade, inflation and affordable housing have become top-of-mind for voters since January. Trump’s tariffs have caused economic anxiety and uncertainty worldwide, Byler said, as they’ve sent markets skidding with brief reprieves as he announced pauses or pullbacks on the policy. Some of Trump’s backers have said the tariffs are merely negotiating tactics to get better trade deals for the U.S. Others worry the tariffs could spark a recession.
Americans also continue to be concerned about inflation, and 55% of those surveyed indicated they thought federal policies on inflation were getting worse.
“So you’ve got kind of a ticking clock to solve the economy. That’s one of the more… up-in-the-air things of the two issues that Trump won on,” Byler said.
The Center Square’s Voter’s Voice poll, conducted with Noble Predictive Insights from April 15-18, queried 2,527 registered voters. Of those respondents, 1,089 were Republicans, 1,187 were Democrats, and 251 were “True Independents,” which are independents who do not lean to one party or the other. The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll is one of only six national tracking polls in the United States.
