---
title: "White evangelicals remain among Trump’s strongest supporters, but they’re less supportive than a year ago"
description: "There has been an 8-percentage point drop since early 2025 in the share of White evangelicals who support all or most of Trump’s plans and policies. "
date: "2026-02-09"
authors:
  - name: "Chip Rotolo"
    job_title: "Research Associate"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/michael-rotolo/"
  - name: "Gregory A. Smith"
    job_title: "Senior Associate Director, Research"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/gregory-a-smith/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/02/09/white-evangelicals-remain-among-trumps-strongest-supporters-but-theyre-less-supportive-than-a-year-ago/"
categories:
  - "Donald Trump"
  - "Evangelicalism"
  - "Religion & Politics"
  - "Religion & Politics"
---

# White evangelicals remain among Trump’s strongest supporters, but they’re less supportive than a year ago

One year into President Donald Trump’s second term, White evangelical Protestants remain among his strongest supporters.

### White evangelicals are far more likely than Americans overall to view Trump positively

*% of __ who say they ...*

|  | All U.S. adults | White evangelical Protestants |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Approve of Trump’s job performance | 37 | 69 |
| Support all/most of Trump’s plans and policies | 27 | 58 |
| Are extremely/very confident Trump acts ethically in office | 21 | 40 |

Note: White adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 20-26, 2026.

The latest Pew Research Center survey, conducted Jan. 20-26, 2026, finds that most White evangelicals (69%) approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president. And a majority (58%) say they support all or most of his plans and policies.

A smaller share of White evangelicals (40%) say they are extremely or very confident Trump acts ethically in office. But on this question, too, they express substantially more positive views than other Americans.

At the same time, White evangelicals’ views of Trump are *less* positive than they were in the early days of his second term. The changes in their views mirror those seen [among the U.S. public as a whole](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/01/29/confidence-in-trump-dips-and-fewer-now-say-they-support-his-policies-and-plans/).

### Compared with early 2025, fewer White evangelicals now have confidence that Trump acts ethically in office

*% of White evangelical Protestants who say they …*

|  | Support all/most of Trump’s plans/policies | Are extremely/very confident Trump acts ethically in office |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 01-2025 | 66 | 55 |
| 01-2026 | 58 | 40 |

Note: White adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 20-26, 2026.

For instance, there has been an 8-percentage point drop since early 2025 in the share of White evangelicals who support all or most of Trump’s plans and policies. And there has been a 15-point drop in the share who are confident Trump acts ethically in office.

Trump’s approval rating among White evangelicals is also down compared with early 2025 (69% today vs. 78% then), though several other Center surveys over the past year have measured ratings near this level.

The comparatively positive views that evangelicals express about Trump reflect the group’s partisan orientation. White evangelicals are [heavily Republican](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/party-identification-among-religious-groups-and-religiously-unaffiliated-voters/), and Republicans in general are far more positive toward Trump than Democrats are. Even among Republicans, however, confidence in Trump has declined over the past year.

The rest of this analysis looks at how people in other religious groups view Trump and how their views have changed since last year.

**About this research**

This Pew Research Center analysis examines how U.S. religious groups view Donald Trump, including his plans and policies and his ethics as president. It focuses on Protestants, Catholics and religiously unaffiliated people. The survey did not include interviews with enough people in smaller groups (like Latter-day Saints, Orthodox Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists or Hindus) to [show their results separately](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/08/08/why-pew-research-center-typically-cant-report-the-views-of-smaller-u-s-religious-groups/) on all questions

For an overall summary of the survey’s findings, including a detailed discussion of how Republicans and Democrats view these questions, [read our January report](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/01/29/confidence-in-trump-dips-and-fewer-now-say-they-support-his-policies-and-plans/).

#### Why did we do this?

Pew Research Center conducts high-quality research to inform the public, journalists and leaders. Studying how religion relates to public life and politics is a key part of the Center’s long-standing research.

Learn more about [Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/about/) and our [religion research](https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/religion/).

#### How did we do this?

This analysis includes findings from a survey of 8,512 U.S. adults who are part of the Center’s [American Trends Panel](https://www.pewresearch.org/the-american-trends-panel/) (ATP). The survey was conducted Jan. 20-26, 2026, and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points.

Here are the [questions used for this analysis](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/PP_2026-01-29_views-of-trump_questionnaire.pdf), along with [responses](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/PP_2026-01-29_views-of-trump_topline.pdf), [sample size information](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/SR_26.02.09_evangelicals-trump_MOE.pdf) for religious groups and the [survey methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/01/29/views-of-trump-2026-methodology/).

#### Support for Trump’s plans and policies

### White Protestants and religious ‘nones’ have become less likely to support all or most of Trump’s agenda

*% who say they support all/most of Donald Trump’s plans and policies*

|  | U.S. adults | White evangelical Protestant | White Protestant, not evangelical | Black Protestant | White Catholic | Hispanic Catholic | Religiously unaffiliated |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 02-2025 | 35 | 66 | 46 | 8 | 51 | 20 | 20 |
| 01-2026 | 27 | 58 | 33 | 6 | 46 | 18 | 13 |

Note: White and Black adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 20-26, 2026.

Among White Protestants who are *not* evangelical, support for Trump’s plans and policies has dropped 13 points over the past year, from 46% to 33%.

Support has also declined among religiously unaffiliated Americans. Last year, 20% in this group said they support all or most of Trump’s plans and policies; today, 13% do. (The religiously unaffiliated category, sometimes called the religious “nones,” includes people who describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.”)

Catholics’ support for Trump’s agenda has not changed significantly over the past year.

And as was the case last year, very few Black Protestants support all or most of Trump’s plans and policies (8% then, 6% now). Black Protestants are a [largely Democratic-leaning group](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/party-identification-among-religious-groups-and-religiously-unaffiliated-voters/).

#### Views on Trump’s ethics in office

### Confidence in Trump’s ethics has declined in several religious groups

*% who are extremely/very confident that Donald Trump acts ethically in office*

|  | U.S. adults | White evangelical Protestant | White Protestant, not evangelical | Black Protestant | White Catholic | Hispanic Catholic | Religiously unaffiliated |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 02-2025 | 29 | 55 | 38 | 7 | 39 | 22 | 16 |
| 01-2026 | 21 | 40 | 26 | 7 | 34 | 14 | 10 |

Note: White and Black adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 20-26, 2026.

Compared with a year ago, White Protestants and religiously unaffiliated adults now have significantly less confidence that Trump acts ethically in office.

For example, 26% of White nonevangelical Protestants are extremely or very confident Trump acts ethically in office, down from 38%.

And the share of religious “nones” who have a lot of confidence in Trump’s ethics now stands at 10%, down from 16%.

Confidence in Trump’s ethics has remained low among Black Protestants.

#### Views of Trump’s job performance

### Trump approval is down among most religious groups compared with a year ago

*% who approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president*

|  | U.S. adults | White evangelical Protestant | White Protestant, not evangelical | Black Protestant | White Catholic | Hispanic Catholic | Religiously unaffiliated |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 02/2025 | 47 | 78 | 57 | 18 | 59 | 31 | 33 |
| 04/2025 | 40 | 72 | 51 | 10 | 51 | 26 | 26 |
| 06/2025 | 41 | 74 | 51 | 15 | 54 | 27 | 27 |
| 08/2025 | 38 | 70 | 51 | 16 | 48 | 25 | 24 |
| 09/2025 | 40 | 72 | 52 | 15 | 56 | 23 | 26 |
| 01/2026 | 37 | 69 | 46 | 12 | 52 | 23 | 24 |

Note: White and Black adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 20-26, 2026.

Currently, White evangelicals are the only large religious group in which a clear majority approve of Trump’s job performance.

Roughly half of White Catholics (52%) and White Protestants who are not evangelical (46%) also approve of the way Trump is handling his job.

By comparison, Trump’s approval rating is much lower among religious “nones” (24%), Hispanic Catholics (23%) and Black Protestants (12%). All three are [traditionally Democratic groups](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/party-identification-among-religious-groups-and-religiously-unaffiliated-voters/).

In most religious groups, Trump’s approval ratings are significantly lower now than in the first days of his new term. But they are generally on par with readings taken since April 2025.

Hispanic Catholics are the only religious group in which the decline in Trump’s approval rating since early 2025 is *not *statically significant at the 95% confidence level. However, the 8-point decline among this group is statistically significant at the 90% confidence level.

*Note: Here are the [questions used for this analysis](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/PP_2026-01-29_views-of-trump_questionnaire.pdf), along with [responses](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/PP_2026-01-29_views-of-trump_topline.pdf), [sample size information](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/SR_26.02.09_evangelicals-trump_MOE.pdf) for religious groups and the [survey methodology](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/01/29/views-of-trump-2026-methodology/).*