President Donald Trump's net approval rating dropped to its lowest level across both his terms in office, driven by public frustration over the Iran conflict, rising gasoline prices, and persistent economic anxiety, the latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey found. Overall approval stood at 40%, with 58% disapproving, a net rating of -18, down 10 points from the prior quarter.
The economic numbers were even weaker. Just 39% approved of Trump's handling of the economy, while 60% disapproved, a net margin of -21. That represents a 10-point slide from the previous quarter, when 43% approved and 54% disapproved.
The CNBC survey polled 1,000 people nationwide with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Its findings land alongside a separate AP-NORC poll that painted an even grimmer picture, showing Trump's economic approval at just 30% in April, down from 38% in March, AP News reported.
CNBC described the decline as direct fallout from widespread dissatisfaction with the war with Iran, high gasoline prices, and negative views of the economy. A 48% plurality told pollsters they feel "less safe" because of the conflict, against 30% who feel more safe. Among independents, 58% said they feel less safe. Even a bit more than one in five Americans had no opinion or said the war had no impact on their sense of security.
When asked whether the Iran conflict is worth it given the financial cost and higher gas prices, 64% said no. But the picture shifted when the question narrowed to disrupting Iran's nuclear weapons program, 53% called the war worthwhile on those grounds, against 44% who disagreed.
Nearly 80% of respondents said they have taken some action in response to pain at the pump. That squares with the president's own public insistence that gas prices will come down faster than his energy secretary projected, a claim he made even as Energy Secretary Chris Wright laid out a longer timeline to reach $3 gas.
The sharpest overall approval drop since 2020, when Americans soured on Trump's pandemic response, signals that the Iran conflict may be what Micah Roberts, partner at Public Opinion Strategies and the Republican pollster for the CNBC survey, called an "administration-defining" event.
Roberts framed the numbers as concerning but not catastrophic. He told CNBC:
"To have a 5-point drop is not the way you want to go but... he's keeping 60% of the Republican Party very, very fired up and very much on his side."
The details beneath that top line, though, deserve attention. Republican approval of Trump fell 8 points to 82%, and Republican disapproval rose 9 points, the lowest GOP numbers for Trump since 2017. Among self-identified MAGA voters, support held at 96%. But non-MAGA Republican support collapsed by 19 points to 60%.
On the economy specifically, Republican approval dropped 8 points to 77%. Non-MAGA Republicans went from 69% economic approval in the prior quarter to 55%. Even MAGA supporters dipped 3 points to 92%.
The AP-NORC poll confirmed the same pattern. Republican approval of Trump's economic stewardship fell to 62% from 74% in a single month, Breitbart reported, citing the AP-NORC data. Only about one-quarter of all U.S. adults approved of Trump's handling of the cost of living.
That cost-of-living frustration is real and bipartisan. Tariff policy has become a flashpoint, with majorities disapproving of Trump's handling of inflation and tariffs in the CNBC survey. Businesses have already felt the friction, as illustrated when a new tariff refund portal stumbled on launch day, leaving companies dealing with errors and long waits.
Overall approval in GOP-held congressional districts fell 11 points to 43%. Americans said they prefer Democratic control of Congress by a 4-point margin. For Republicans heading into the midterms, those two data points should concentrate minds.
Jay Campbell, partner at Hart Research and the Democratic pollster for the survey, offered a blunt forecast:
"It's hard to imagine a set of policies that could be proposed and implemented between now and Election Day that would have a material enough impact on the American people that they would say, 'Actually this guy is doing pretty good with the economy.'"
But Campbell also cautioned Democrats against complacency:
"Democrats can't assume that the worse Trump does, the better they will do or that they can simply tie everything around his and the Republican Congress' neck."
That warning carries weight. Both parties are deeply unpopular. The CNBC survey found 52% hold a negative view of Democrats, against just 26% positive. Republicans fared only slightly better: 35% positive, 52% negative. Still, 76% of Republicans approved of their own party, and the current survey marked the fourth straight poll in which Republicans had a better public image than Democrats.
Not every issue cut against the president. Securing the southern border drew majority support, 51% to 46%. But Trump's efforts to deport illegal immigrants polled modestly negative, suggesting voters distinguish between border enforcement as a concept and the administration's specific methods.
Approval among independents and Latinos each fell 9 points on the economy. White Americans without a college degree, a cornerstone of Trump's coalition, saw a 7-point drop in economic approval. Those are the voters who feel gas prices and grocery bills most directly.
The Washington Times, covering the AP-NORC findings, noted that concern over the cost of living is especially damaging, with weakening support not just among independents but among Republicans, suggesting broader political risk for Trump and his party heading into the election cycle.
The president has projected confidence on the economic front, declaring the Iran conflict "very close to over" and predicting a stock market surge. Whether that optimism translates into tangible relief for voters before the midterms is the open question that defines the next several months.
Roberts, the Republican pollster, noted that despite the decline, the shift did not seem correspondingly large given the scale of events:
"This is a very fraught time, a lot of big stuff is happening but the number shift didn't seem correspondingly big on (Trump's) core ratings."
There is some truth in that framing. Trump's net approval at -18 remains above where President Joe Biden sat in the CNBC survey at the end of 2024, when Biden stood at -22 and had been even lower. The administration has also floated the idea that tariff revenue could largely offset income taxes, a proposal aimed squarely at the economic anxiety now dragging on his numbers.
But the trajectory matters more than the snapshot. A 10-point net drop in a single quarter, driven by an overseas conflict and kitchen-table costs, is the kind of movement that reshapes midterm landscapes. The question for Republicans is whether the administration can deliver visible economic relief, lower gas prices, stabilized costs, a credible path out of the Iran conflict, before voters render their verdict.
Democrats, for their part, face their own problem: a 52%-negative favorability rating and a public that dislikes them even when it dislikes the alternative. Campbell's advice to his own party, don't assume Trump's troubles automatically become Democratic gains, is the most honest line in the entire survey.
Polls measure a moment, not a destiny. But the moment is clear: Americans are paying more, feeling less safe, and holding their leaders accountable. The party that figures out how to answer that, rather than just point fingers, will earn the midterm majority.