President Donald Trump’s approval rating among Gen Z voters dropped significantly in new polling released Wednesday. Support among adults ages 18 to 29 fell to 25% in the latest Economist/YouGov survey. This comes as Republicans prepare for the 2026 midterm elections.
The March 13-16 Economist/YouGov poll of 1,595 U.S. adult citizens revealed that 64% of respondents ages 18 to 29 disapproved of Trump’s job performance. This resulted in a net approval rating of minus 39 for that age group. The same poll showed the President’s overall approval at 37%, with 56% disapproving, giving him a net rating of minus 19. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.
This reflects a significant decline from the previous Economist/YouGov poll conducted March 6-9. In that poll, 32% of voters ages 18 to 29 approved of Trump’s performance, while 60% disapproved, resulting in a net rating of minus 28. At that time, the President’s overall approval was at 40%, with 55% disapproving.
Newsweek, which first reported on the decline among Gen Z voters, stated that Trump’s numbers with younger Americans had worsened more quickly than his overall ratings in the same polling series. The magazine noted that the latest results indicated an 11-point drop in net approval among voters ages 18 to 29 in just over a week.
Elysia Morales, who is Mexican, cast her 1st presidential vote for Trump in 2024. After seeing videos of deportations & the killing of Alex Pretti, her support for Trump is at a newfound low. She left both her roles at TPUSA & the College Republicans https://t.co/XJvYXxg8vv pic.twitter.com/b9Q0WleoGL
— Fly Sistah 🪷 (@Fly_Sistah) January 30, 2026
These new figures add to a longer trend of declining support from younger voters. A Feb. 6-9 Economist/YouGov poll found 25% approval and 67% disapproval among voters ages 18 to 29, which Newsweek called a record low in that series.
A week earlier, from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, Trump had 33% approval and 62% disapproval with the same age group. Newsweek also mentioned that an Economist/YouGov poll from Feb. 16-18, 2025, showed Trump slightly positive among younger voters, at 52% approval and 43% disapproval.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle questioned the importance of the latest results in a statement to Newsweek. “The ultimate poll was November 5, 2024, when nearly 80 million Americans overwhelmingly elected President Trump to deliver on his popular and common-sense agenda,” Ingle said. He added that the president had made “historic progress not only in America but around the world.”
The new NYT poll finds Trump 17 points underwater on immigration, and the nonwhite and young voters who went to Trump in 2024 have snapped back to Dems.
Why, it’s almost as if 2024 might not have represented a seismic cultural realignment on immigration after all pic.twitter.com/QsKOTrnOE0
— . (@GregTSargent) January 22, 2026
Polling analyst Brett Loyd from the Independent Center told Newsweek that approval ratings still matter, but their usefulness is more limited in a divided political climate. “Presidential approval remains a functional barometer for tracking the momentum of an administration’s start and finish, but its day-to-day utility has diminished,” Loyd said.
Other recent reports highlighted a decline in Trump’s support among younger voters, especially young men. Reuters reported on March 9 that some college-age Trump voters expressed frustration over high prices, student debt, and immigration enforcement tactics.
Analysts suggested that Republicans might struggle to retain those voters in the midterms. The Washington Post also reported this week that polls indicated 70% of voters ages 18 to 29 disapproved of Trump’s presidency.
With the 2026 elections approaching, Republicans will be attentive to whether the decline among Gen Z voters continues beyond this period of polling.
