Where Trump’s ratings on the economy stand at the end of the year
President Trump's overall approval ratings have seen a slight uptick in recent weeks after hitting record-low numbers in November. However, his approval numbers on the economy have not seen the same rebound, as Americans increasingly cite pocketbook issues as their top concern in politics today.
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Trump's approval rating tumbled to a second-term low of 41 percent last month amid the record-breaking government shutdown, according to Decision Desk HQ's polling aggregate. Since then, it's ticked up to about 45 percent, roughly the average for him since taking office.
But recent polls have provided some of Trump's worst figures on his handling of the economy.
The latest AP-NORC survey, released in mid-December, found just 31 percent of Americans approve of Trump's handling of the economy, down from 33 percent last month. Trump's overall approval rating held steady in both polls at 36 percent.
AP-NORC recorded Trump's economic approval peaking at 43 percent in August, surpassing the previous peak of 40 percent recorded in March. In all other months, Trump's economic approval rating ranged from 36 percent to 38 percent.
Reuters similarly recorded Trump's lowest economic approval rating in its recent poll with Ipsos, even as the president's overall approval rating recovered slightly since its record-low approval in mid-November.
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll ticked up to 39 percent from a previous record-low of 38 percent last month. All other polls conducted during Trump's second term have the president at 40 percent or higher approval.
Trump's poll numbers on the economy tell a different story: The latest survey shows 33 percent of Americans approve of the way Trump has handled the economy, down from 36 percent earlier this month. The president's approval rating on the economy has hovered at 34 or 35 percent since mid-September.
Trump has renewed his focus on economic issues, even as he has dismissed the issue of affordability as a Democratic ‘con job’ and told Politico in a recent interview that he would grade the economy as ‘A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus.’
Americans, however, disagree with the president's assessment of his performance.
Asked to rate the president's handling of the economy with a grade scale of A through F, a 36 percent plurality of voters in the Emerson College Polling survey gave the president a failing grade, compared with 22 percent who gave him a top A grade.
More than 7 in 10 respondents to a Fox News poll rated economic conditions negatively, and nearly 6 in 10 said they think the Trump administration is focused on the wrong things.
And though Trump has continued to cast blame on former President Biden for the affordability crisis, 57 percent of respondents in a new Quinnipiac University poll said Trump is more responsible for the current economy than his predecessor.
Welcome to The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter, I’m Sarah Fortinsky — covering the intersection of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.
