President Donald Trump’s current job approval rating stands at 38%, with 60% of U.S. adults expressing disapproval of his performance. This is a modest decline from two months ago, when 41% approved.
And perceptions of some of Trump’s personal traits are more negative than they were following his election victory (or in 2024 preelection polling). For instance, 37% of Americans today say “cares about the needs of ordinary people” describes Trump well. That share is 8 points lower than it was shortly after the November election, and 5 points lower than it was in late-summer preelection polling.
Trump’s job approval
Much of the change in Trump’s approval rating over the last few months has come among his own 2024 voters and people who did not vote in 2024.
Trump’s 2024 voters continue to overwhelmingly approve of his job performance – 85% do so today. However, this reflects a decline from 88% in June and 95% at the beginning of his term.
Trump’s rating has slipped more among his younger voters than among older adults who cast their ballot for him.
- A few weeks into his presidency, Trump’s job approval rating among those who voted for him varied little by age. Nine-in-ten or more Trump voters under 35 approved of his job performance, as did similar shares of those in older age groups.
- Today, Trump’s rating remains overwhelmingly high among his voters ages 50 and older. But it has slipped considerably more among his youngest voters: 69% of Trump voters under 35 now approve of his job performance, down 23 points from the start of this term.
Trump has also lost ground among adults who did not cast a ballot in 2024. Around a third (32%) approve of his performance today, down from 36% in June and 45% at the beginning of his term.
Nearly all of those who voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 disapprove of Trump’s job performance. Just 2% currently approve, essentially unchanged over the last few months (though slightly lower than the 5% who approved at the very beginning of his term).
Among demographic groups
Today, 38% of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, including 27% who approve very strongly. Six-in-ten disapprove, with nearly half (47%) saying they strongly disapprove.
Trump’s approval is more negative than positive among most demographic groups.
White Americans are modestly more likely to disapprove of the president than approve: 47% approve of Trump’s performance, while 52% disapprove. Clear majorities of Black (83%), Hispanic (70%) and Asian (66%) Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the job.
Older adults continue to hold more positive views of Trump’s job performance than younger adults (44% of those ages 50 and older approve, compared with 33% of adults under 50).
And while 41% of Americans without a bachelor’s degree approve of Trump’s performance, a smaller share of those with a bachelor’s degree (34%) say the same.
Trump’s personal traits
Most Americans (68%) say the phrase “stands up for what he believes in” describes Trump very or fairly well.
Smaller shares say the same about the phrases “mentally sharp” (48%), “keeps his promises” (43%), “cares about the needs of ordinary people” (37%), “honest” (36%) or “a good role model” (29%).
The share who sees Trump as someone who stands up for his beliefs and the share who sees him as honest are essentially the same as where they stood throughout the 2024 campaign. But Trump’s ratings on other measures are more negative today than they were throughout the campaign and shortly after his November victory.
For instance, 48% today say “mentally sharp” describes Trump well. Throughout the 2024 campaign and shortly after the November election, more than half of Americans held this view.
Views by party
As in the past, there are wide partisan gaps on evaluations of the president’s traits. Republicans overwhelmingly say most of these traits apply to Trump, while few Democrats say the same.
The partisan gaps are particularly wide
(60 points or more) on the following traits:
- Mentally sharp (85% of Republicans say this describes Trump at least somewhat well, while just 14% of Democrats agree)
- Keeps his promises (76% vs. 13%)
- Cares about the needs of ordinary people (72% vs. 5%)
- Honest (69% vs. 7%)
There are narrower – though still wide – partisan gaps on two other characteristics. Republicans are 43 points more likely than Democrats to say Trump stands up for what he believes in. This gap is narrower than others because Democrats are far more likely to say this characteristic applies to Trump than they are to say this about any of the other traits.
Conversely, the relatively narrow 51-point gap on views of Trump as “a good role model” is attributable to the slim majority of Republicans who say this applies to Trump (56% vs. 5% of Democrats).
