Poll: Americans disapprove of Trump's performance, as Republicans manage splits over spending plans

CNBC

7 hours ago

President Donald Trump's second-term approval rating remains stuck in negative territory, along with general attitudes toward his administration's policies, according to a new NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey.
But immigration and border security remains an exception, as the president tries to drive national attention back toward his strongest issue — though Americans are closely divided even on that area of relative strength.
Americans' ratings of two of the other defining projects of Trump's second term, tariffs and the Department of Government Efficiency, are more negative. And as Congress works on another major Trump initiative, a massive tax and spending plan, the poll illustrates how Republicans must manage internal differences over competing priorities on taxes and government debt.
A majority (55%) of all adults over 18 years old said they disapprove of the way Trump's handling his job as president, while 45% approve, unchanged from April's NBC News Stay Tuned Poll.
While the overall number was stable, under the surface there are small signs of waning enthusiasm for the president, with the share of adults who strongly approve decreasing slightly since April. The share who strongly disapprove also fell slightly, though intense negative feelings remain stronger than intense positive feelings in this poll.
Republicans were 5 percentage points less likely to say that they strongly support the president compared to April, with much of this movement coming from Republicans who say they identify as being part of the MAGA movement moving into the "somewhat approve" category.
The poll was conducted May 30-June 10, surveying 19,410 adults online nationwide with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.
When asked to identify emotions about the president and his actions, fewer MAGA supporters picked "thrilled" compared to April, too. Thirty-seven percent said they're thrilled about the actions the Trump administration has taken so far during its term, down from 46% in April.
In contrast, a majority (51%) of Democrats say they are "furious" at the Trump administration's actions, showing a disparity in the intensity of feeling between the two parties. Indeed, Republicans shifted 7 percentage points away from being thrilled toward more neutral feelings about the president since April.
This type of intensity gap has played a major role in past nonpresidential election cycles, and it may prove notable in off-cycle elections in New Jersey and Virginia this November, which generally see relatively lower turnout. Congressional Republicans and Trump will want to drive up enthusiasm among their base as they prepare to defend seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
A majority of independents said they feel dissatisfied, angry or furious with the actions of the administration. That's reflected in independents' approval rating of the president, with 65% saying they disapprove of his performance.
A majority of Americans said they approve of Trump's handling of border security and immigration, though the public is closely split on even his strongest issue, with 51% approving of his handling of immigration and border security and 49% disapproving.
While the survey was being conducted, Trump deployed National Guard troops and Marines to the Los Angeles area due to mounting protests over Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the county. He has spoken repeatedly about the issue in recent days.
While the public overall is divided on Trump's immigration policy, his base is motivated by the issue and his handling of it. While 9% of Americans overall said immigration is the issue that matters most to them right now, 20% of MAGA supporters said immigration is the most important issue, second only to the economy.
Trump's overall numbers on immigration were similar to the April poll, but Republicans, MAGA Republicans and independents were all slightly more likely to say now that they strongly approve of the way Trump is handling border security and immigration.
In recent months, the administration's immigration policies have overlapped with its higher education policies, especially those aimed at foreign students across the United States. The poll found a majority of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of issues related to college and universities, with 56% disapproving of Trump's actions toward universities, including a 42% plurality who said they strongly disapprove.
Trump's base, however, strongly approves of his handling of universities. MAGA supporters overwhelmingly approve, including 72% who said they strongly approve. Most Republicans also approve, including 57% who strongly approve of Trump's handling of the issue.
On the question of how institutions like Harvard University affect the U.S., a plurality of Americans said they help the country (44%) and about a quarter (24%) said they hurt the country. Another 31% said colleges and universities like Harvard are not making a difference. Harvard has been at the forefront of legal battles with the Trump administration over grant money and the ability to enroll foreign students.
A majority of MAGA supporters (65%) and Republicans (53%) said universities like Harvard are mostly hurting the country, whereas three-quarters of Democrats said they help the country. Among independents, 46% said colleges and universities aren't making a difference and 42% said they're helping the country.
Americans gave Trump negative ratings on how he's handling several other issues, including tariffs (40% approve, 60% disapprove), cost of living and inflation (39%-61%) and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts (44%-56%).
A slight majority of Americans (51%) said maintaining current spending levels on programs like Medicaid is the most important matter as Congress considers Trump-backed budget legislation this year. But it's closely split, within the margin of error, against a combined 49% who say a pair of Republican-aligned priorities are most important to them.
The poll also illustrates how Republicans are trying to balance priorities and the demands of different parts of their narrow congressional majorities as they design the package.
Mirroring the divisions among the Republican lawmakers negotiating the bill, 40% of Republicans said they care most about ensuring the national debt is reduced, while an almost identical share (39%) said they care most about continuing and expanding income tax cuts and credits enacted in 2017 by Trump. Another 2 in 10 Republicans said maintaining current spending is their most important budget priority.
The findings come after a brief but explosive online feud between Trump and his former billionaire adviser, Elon Musk, who tarred the Republican legislation as a "disgusting abomination" over its spending levels. Several Republican senators have also expressed concerns about spending levels in the bill, even while backing the idea of extending the 2017 tax breaks and enacting some new ones.
Senate Republicans, who have a 53-seat majority, are aiming to pass their version of the legislation by July.
Democrats surveyed in the poll overwhelmingly said their priority is maintaining current spending levels on programs like Medicaid (79%), as do a slight majority of independents (53%).
Meanwhile, Americans' assessment of Musk's efforts with DOGE to reduce spending and the size of the federal government declined slightly since April.
In the most recent survey, 44% rated it as a success or partial success, down from 47%, while 56% rated it a failure or partial failure, up from 52%.
The change included an erosion among Trump's most fervent supporters on DOGE, with 49% of MAGA supporters now saying the effort is a success, down from 66% in April. The survey was in the field during Trump and Musk's recent feud, though the results on this question did not change appreciably over time.
Economic ratings remain lukewarm: 45% of Americans said their personal financial situation is the same as one year ago and 34% said it's worse. Another 21% said they're financially better off than they were a year ago. The findings were almost identical in April.
A bare majority of Americans (51%) think Trump's tariffs will make their personal finances worse in the next year. This number is slightly down from April, and most groups shifted toward saying that the tariff policies will result in their finances being "about the same."
That finding comes as inflation was largely steady in May, with the impact of many on-again, off-again tariffs and ongoing negotiations with trade partners still unclear.