Donald Trump is getting his worst economic report card yet, and this time it is coming directly from the voters he keeps insisting are living through a “great” economy.
A new AP-NORC poll has put Trump’s approval on the economy at the lowest level ever recorded across both of his stints in the White House. Just 31 percent of respondents say they approve of how he is handling economic issues, a brutal nine-point drop from March that wipes out one of the few areas where Trump once claimed a clear edge.
For a president who built his image around the economy and dealmaking, the devastating polling is more than just bad PR for his administration. It suggests that the constant talk of winning on trade, jobs, and growth is colliding with the reality of how people feel when they look at their bank balances and their bills.
The same survey shows Trump’s numbers eroding on other pillars of his “law and order” brand. Approval on crime has fallen from 53 to 43 percent. On immigration, arguably his defining issue, support has dropped from 49 to 38 percent. Those are not minor dips, they are double digit hits on the themes he has hammered at rallies, in interviews, and Truth Social.
Overall, Trump’s job approval now sits at 36 percent, barely above the rock bottom levels he hit in early 2021 after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, when he was accused of helping incite the riot. For a White House that likes to tout crowd sizes and online engagement, the polling picture suggests a much colder reception beyond the friendly arenas and handpicked backdrops.
POLL: TRUMP’S APPROVAL FALLS ON ECONOMY AND IMMIGRATION
A new AP-NORC poll shows President Trump’s approval rating dropping to 36%, down from 42% in March. Support for his economic policies fell to 31%, the lowest recorded in any AP-NORC survey of his terms. Approval on crime…
— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) December 11, 2025
The timing could hardly be worse for Trump’s political team, as the president has kicked off a string of rallies in Pennsylvania aimed at calming nerves over rising prices and soft economic data. The goal is to convince voters that the president is still the safest pair of hands on the economy. The new numbers tell a different story: many people simply are not buying i,t and the economic data behind the scenes are not giving him much help.
Since the start of the year, GDP growth has been dropping, failing to match the confident tone coming out of the White House. Forecasts now point to a slowdown from 2.8 percent in 2024 to around 1.6 percent by the end of December, a nearly 1.2 percentage point drop. Many economists blame the decline on Trump’s tariffs on major trading partners, which have disrupted the global supply chains and hit several sectors of the American economy hard. For example, Trump was forced to bail out farmers with a $12 billion package.
Prices remain high compared with pre-pandemic levels, and while wage growth has improved for some workers, it has not erased the feeling or Americans that everything from living expenses to rent to groceries is getting more expensive.
Trump has continued to dismiss the economic issues as a Democratic hoax, even when confronted by his supporters about the cost of living. Several Republicans have been open about their fears going into the midterms due to the affordability crisis but their pleas for the president to change his messaging has fallen on deaf ears.
