What recent polls show about the challenges facing Trump this year
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump might be bragging about his administration’s work on affordability, but recent polling suggests that Americans aren’t buying it as they grow increasingly frustrated with his leadership.
Many Americans say Trump is focusing on the wrong priorities, according to multiple surveys, including a January AP-NORC poll, and they largely think Trump is neglecting the issue of costs at home. Compounding his problems, there are signs that frustration is rising over his approach to immigration, and some of his recent fixations, like taking over Greenland, are downright unpopular.
This has created separate – but related – problems for Trump as his party heads into a midterm year. Americans don’t think he’s paying enough attention to the economy and many want him to focus less on immigration and foreign policy. But those are the issues that dominated the headlines over the past month, thanks to Trump’s aggressive approach.
Many don’t see Trump helping costs and want him to focus more on the economy
Trump was re-elected in large part because of economic concerns, but recent polling shows that the bulk of Americans aren’t seeing benefits from his policies yet, and most don’t think he’s paying enough attention to the issue.
A large share of registered voters see the economy as one of the top issues facing the country, and a recent New York Times poll found that about half of registered voters say Trump’s policies have made life for most Americans “less affordable.”
Similarly, about 7 in 10 registered voters in a new Fox News poll said Trump is not spending enough time focusing on the economy, including about half of Republicans.
Meanwhile, about 4 in 10 voters in the Fox News poll said Trump’s economic policies have “hurt” them personally, while about the same share said the policies haven’t made a difference. Only about 2 in 10 say the president’s economic path has benefitted them — and looking ahead, 45% of voters say they expect the economy will “get worse” in the next year.
Most voters see ICE as too aggressive
Even though many Americans continue to support Trump’s goal of deporting people in the country illegally, polling shows that they’re increasingly uncomfortable with his immigration’s tactics.
About 6 in 10 registered voters said ICE tactics have “gone too far” in the New York Times poll. The Fox News poll found a similar share of voters felt ICE was being “too aggressive” in its efforts to deport immigrants in the country illegally, a measure that’s up 10 percentage points from July.
Those measures — which were conducted before the shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis — point to Americans’ broad frustration with immigration officers’ actions in cities across the U.S. even before the situation in Minnesota escalated further.
Immigration was among Trump’s strongest issues when he started his second term in AP-NORC polling, but it’s since fallen. Just 38% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling immigration, down from 49% in March. That poll was conducted Jan. 8-11, shortly after the death of Renee Good, who was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.
There’s also some indication that Trump’s approval on immigration could be slipping among Republicans. It fell from 88% in March to 76% in the January AP-NORC poll, an apparent shift among his supporters during his first year back in office.
Many want Trump focused less on foreign issues
In the past few weeks alone, Trump has mulled taking control of Greenland, pushed for U.S. control of Venezuelan oil, and penalized Iran for killing thousands of peaceful protesters.
Polling shows that many Americans want Trump more focused on issues at home. About 4 in 10 voters want Trump less locked in on foreign policy, according to the Fox poll. Roughly one-third of Americans said Trump’s time spent on foreign policy was “about right,” and about 3 in 10 said he was not spending enough time on it.
Control of Greenland is an unpopular issue for Trump. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that about 6 in 10 U.S. adults strongly or somewhat opposed the U.S. taking over Greenland, as Trump has proposed. Republicans were split on the issue: about 4 in 10 favored a takeover, but about one-third were opposed. About one-quarter were uncertain.
Republicans are less confident in Trump’s character and mental fitness
Trump has been a prominent political figure for about a decade, and his supporters have often not been deterred by his non-traditional or brash behavior in the White House. Polling has often shown that issue priorities often drive voters much more than candidate character.
Despite that, there’s a possible warning for Trump in new Pew Research Center polling that shows that just over half of Republicans, 56%, support “all” or “most” of Trump’s plans and policies, down from 67% just after he took office last year.
The poll also found sharp declines in Republicans’ confidence that Trump has the mental fitness to serve as president, respects the country’s democratic values or acts ethically in office. Only about 4 in 10 Republicans are now “extremely” or “very” confident in Trump acting ethically, down from 55% early last year.
Also concerning for Trump, given his focus on his predecessor’s mental fitness, about two-thirds of Republicans are now highly confident that Trump has the mental fitness needed to do the job of president. That’s down from 75% at the start of his second term.