For a moment in 2024, Donald Trump really seemed to have cracked the Gen Z code. Several young voters (especially men) tilted toward Trump enough to startle Democrats. The MAGA world was thrilled, though. Except now that we are a year into Trump’s second term, and that same generation is slamming the brakes.
New polling suggests Gen Z has drifted away from Trump so much that his approval numbers (as said by CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten) fell off a cliff. As of now, it looks like a youth-led revolt against the president they helped elect. According to this polling cited by the Irish Star, the 79-year-old president’s net approval among Gen Z plunged from +10 in February 2025 to -32.
Yes, a 42-point collapse!
Democrats had a six-point edge with Gen Z in 2024. But by 2025, that margin exploded to 25 points. Polls like that from Ipsos show Trump underwater by 14 points, Gallup put the disapproval at 59%, and American Research Group found a 35% approval.
CNN: “Trump at -46 with young voters now, a deep dark black hole… -52 with young voters on the economy. It’s just stunning, you rarely ever see shifts like this.” pic.twitter.com/OP2gUVL38A
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) December 5, 2025
This reversal is more striking thanks to Gen Z. According to Tufts University’s nonpartisan CIRCLE research, young voters still leaned Democratic in 2024, as they backed Kamala Harris over Trump 52% to 46%. But compared to 2020, youth support for Trump had jumped 10 points. Most of that was driven by young men, as 56% of them voted for Trump as opposed to Joe Biden four years earlier. A lot of young women edged to the right, too.
If we want to answer what even happened, then it is an open-and-shut case of expectations vs reality. As Trump rode back into office, he promised that inflation would vanish and the job market would be roaring. Instead, his first year was filled with trade wars and tariffs. So young Americans now strongly disapprove of his handling of the economy, and they have proof.
Then again, Gen Z isn’t categorically swinging left either.
Data cited by Vox suggests the voters who came of age during or after the pandemic are cynical and want to punish leaders who don’t deliver. Economically, that can be called buyer’s remorse, which we can see among young men who were once Trump’s breakout demographic. New surveys tell us that younger Gen Z men disapprove of Trump a lot more strongly than their older peers. In doing so, they are thinking of immigration enforcement, public health woes, and federal workforce troughs.
This is insane cope, gen Z opposes Trump’s immigration policies by the largest margin of any age group, disapproves of his economic handling and tariffs, and thinks he’s too focused on ending DEI. https://t.co/kooDDBlg0b pic.twitter.com/FHvpuCDT24
— James Medlock (@jdcmedlock) July 23, 2025
In this unstable landscape, “wokeness” doesn’t matter. Many of these voters feel stuck as costs rise and Trump’s promises fade. Gen Z has never pretended to be loyal either, and now they are too disappointed to be sticking around.
