Trump’s economic approval sinks to a new low of 36%, a fresh poll shows
In the Oval Office photo from Monday, President Trump is depicted as the economy remains a defining issue. During his first term, many credited him for economic momentum, and his 2024 campaign relied on vows to curb prices in a post-pandemic inflation environment to reclaim the presidency.
But by the end of his current year in office, only 36% of Americans approve of how he’s handling the economy, according to the latest NPR/PBS News and Marist poll. That figure marks his weakest economy-handling rating in the six-year arc Marist has tracked the question.
Only one other moment in that span saw a comparable dip: February 2022, when Joe Biden was president. Today, Democrats hold a slight edge in trusting the economy (37% to 33% for Republicans), though the gap is narrow — a sharp reversal from the 2022 era when Republicans led by 16 points on this measure.
The survey spans a broad set of economic concerns and reveals several eye-opening findings about Americans’ financial strain, outlook, and perceptions of a looming recession. It shows many families are struggling to make ends meet, worry about the near-term and long-term economic future, and perceive the country as already in a recession. Opinions on these questions show clear differences across race, age, and gender.
The White House acknowledges the economic challenges and is aiming to center them in upcoming events. Still, the president faces a tough task convincing Americans that his administration can improve the situation, a challenge that sometimes leads him back to culture-war topics such as immigration.
Trump’s political standing has hit a low point in his presidency
The economy is dragging down Trump’s approval with several core groups necessary to his coalition. For instance, 49% of rural residents disapprove of his handling of the economy, with 43% approving. Among white women without a college degree, 48% disapprove versus 41% who approve, and in the suburban areas — crucial swing locales — disapproval outpaces approval 60% to 33%.
Beyond the economy-specific rating, his overall job approval sits at a mere 38%, the lowest in his second term and the weakest reading in Marist’s surveys since April 2018, a year that preceded a major House loss for Republicans.
The intensity of disapproval runs high: 50% of registered voters strongly disapprove. Independents and Democrats are generally disenchanted with the trajectory, while Republicans remain a reliable base, though even there support has softened slightly to 84% in this poll, down 5 points from last month.
Prices dominate as the top economic stressor
When asked to name the single most pressing economic concern, respondents overwhelmingly cited prices, at 45%. Housing followed at 18%, tariffs at 15%, and job security at 10%.
Tariffs are closely linked to higher prices in ongoing debates, and two-thirds of respondents say tariffs affect their personal finances either quite a bit or somewhat. Although this share has declined from 81% in June, the concern remains widespread, especially among independents and Democrats, while Republicans’ concern has fallen more sharply (from 70% to 38%).
Most believe the country is already in a recession
Defining whether a country is in a recession isn’t always straightforward, but it typically involves sustained negative GDP growth. While there are signals of a cooling job market — November added 64,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.6% in the delayed data released Tuesday — the economy hasn’t met the two-quarter GDP contraction criterion for a technical recession.
Nevertheless, a large portion of respondents, particularly among Black and Latino communities and those under 45, feel the nation is in a recession. Latinos, for instance, were 22 points more likely than whites to say the country is already in a recession, and younger respondents were 17 points more likely than those over 45 to share that view. Women were 15 points more likely than men to say the same.
Affordability remains a critical pain point
Across the board, residents report that affordability is a major struggle. About 70% say their local area is not affordable or not affordable at all for a typical family, a sharp rise from 45% in June. Republicans’ views on local cost of living have swung from a comfortable majority in June (64% affordable) to a near-even split (51% affordable vs. 49% not affordable). Independents’ optimism also plummeted, with the share calling their area affordable dropping by about 30 points.
A majority feel the economy isn’t working for them
Roughly 60% feel the economy isn’t performing well for them personally, and more people say their financial situation worsened over the past year than improved (35% vs. 21%). The scale of this dissatisfaction is highly partisan and racial, with Democrats and independents more likely to say the economy isn’t working for them, while about two-thirds of Republicans feel it is.
Significant gaps emerge by race, age, income, education, and gender, including a striking divide among white individuals without a college degree: 69% of white women without degrees say the economy isn’t meeting their needs, compared with 51% of white men without degrees. These dynamics align with the coalition allies Trump has depended on.
Economic insecurity and rising health-care costs
About seven in ten respondents report that their expenses either match or exceed their income each month, with higher rates among Black and Latino communities, younger people, and lower-income groups. Roughly 25% said their expenses regularly outpace income, translating to around 64 million adults carrying month-to-month debt. This burden is most acute for those earning under $50,000, for white women without college degrees, for Millennials, and among Black and Latino communities and households with children.
Savings views reveal persistent gaps
Satisfaction with savings also follows demographic lines. About 54% of white respondents are at least somewhat satisfied with their savings, compared with 41% of Black respondents and 40% of Latinos. Education level compounds the effect: 60% of college graduates express some degree of savings satisfaction, versus 41% of those without a degree.
Healthcare costs remain a major concern, with 54% worried that they won’t be able to pay for needed health care services in the next year. The concern is highest among Black (69%), Latino (65%), lower-income (67%), under-45 (61%), and female respondents (61%).
Outlook for the future remains bleak for many
As 2026 approaches, nearly 60% say they’re more pessimistic about the world’s prospects in the coming year. Demographic groups most likely to feel this way include Democrats, white women with college degrees, independents, and Latinos. Those more optimistic tend to be Republicans, white evangelical Christians, rural residents, and white men without degrees — groups that have generally aligned with Trump.
A sizable share view the country as heading in the wrong direction — 63% express that sentiment, with clear divides along demographic lines.
Methodology
The survey was conducted December 8–11 among 1,440 adults, using live interviews, text, and online responses. The margin of error is ±3.2 percentage points. Among respondents, 1,261 were registered voters, with a ±3.4 percentage point margin of error where voters are referenced.
