National

How has Trump’s favorability rating changed? One group had big shift, poll finds

How has President Donald Trump’s approval rating changed since his election? It shifted the most with young Americans, according to a new poll.
How has President Donald Trump’s approval rating changed since his election? It shifted the most with young Americans, according to a new poll. Photo from the White House, UnSplash

It’s now been over 100 days since President Donald Trump returned to the White House following his re-election. In that short time, he enacted a whirlwind of wide-ranging policies, including on immigration, trade and federal spending.

In response, his favorability rating among Americans has declined — particularly among one demographic, according to new polling.

In the latest Economist/YouGov survey, 45% of respondents said they have a favorable view of Trump, while 53% said they have an unfavorable view, putting him underwater with a net -8 rating overall.

This marks an 11-point shift from the start of his term in January, when 50% of poll respondents held a favorable opinion of the president and 48% held a negative opinion.

And, when the results were broken down by demographics, some noticeable patterns emerged — with the most striking change occurring among young Americans.

In the latest poll, Trump held a net -29 favorability rating with 18-29-year-olds, which is down from +5 in January, marking a dramatic 34-point shift. The result indicates that the country’s youngest voters have undergone a unique sea-change in their view on the president in recent months.

In contrast, the changes in other generations were far less pronounced.

Trump’s rating among 30-44-year-olds stands at net -2, which is up from -6 in January. And among 45-64-year-olds, it now stands at net 0, which is down from +12 in January. Lastly, Trump’s rating among those 65 and older is now at net -8 — down from -4 at the start of his term.

The poll — which sampled 1,786 U.S. adults May 9-12 — also found slight changes in favorability by race.

Among white Americans, the president’s net favorability rating is now +4, dropping from +13 in January.

Meanwhile, his rating is net -48 among Black Americans — down from -31 in January — and net -25 among Hispanic Americans — down from -12 at the beginning of the year.

The latest poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

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This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 2:48 PM with the headline "How has Trump’s favorability rating changed? One group had big shift, poll finds."

BR
Brendan Rascius
McClatchy DC
Brendan Rascius is a McClatchy national real-time reporter covering politics and international news. He has a master’s in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor’s in political science from Southern Connecticut State University.
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