Trump's approval on economy falls in AP-NORC poll, showing new warning
signs for president
[April 22, 2026]
By JOSH BOAK, JESSE BEDAYN and LINLEY SANDERS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s approval rating on the
economy has slumped over the past month as the Iran war drives prices
higher, according to a new AP-NORC poll, with even Republicans showing
less faith in his leadership.
The findings from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs
Research show a president who is struggling with unfulfilled promises to
tame inflation and testing Americans’ patience with a conflict in the
Middle East that has dragged on longer than expected.
Trump’s approval rating on the economy dropped to 30% in April from 38%
in a March AP-NORC poll. A similarly low share of U.S. adults, 32%,
approve of the president’s leadership on Iran, which is unchanged since
last month.
The poll was conducted April 16-20, during which time the Strait of
Hormuz was reopened by Iran, then closed again, an example of the
whiplash that has characterized the conflict.
The president’s policies and pronouncements have often been at odds with
each other. Gasoline prices — which he promised to slash — jumped after
the U.S. attacked Iran in February. His tariffs have kept much of the
economy in limbo and hiring has slowed despite his boasts of a “golden
age.”
Only 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s overall job performance, down
slightly from 38% last month.
Trump’s falling approval ratings could create problems for his party as
it tries to defend House and Senate majorities in the midterm elections.
The poll finds that Trump is especially weak on cost of living, and
enthusiasm about Trump’s performance has waned over the past year among
his own supporters.
Kathryn Bright, 60, a retired captain in the U.S. Air Force, regrets
that she supported Trump in the last election.
“I feel disgusted with myself, I feel betrayed, like he was a wolf in
sheep’s clothing,” she said.
Bright lives in a small town far out on Colorado’s prairie and has
several disabling medical conditions. She was initially drawn to Trump
because of his vows to support veterans, avoid foreign wars and lower
costs.
“It’s like high school class president: ‘I’m gonna promise we are going
to get pizza every single day,’” Bright said. “Then as soon as they get
elected they are like, ‘Oh, I lied.’”
The vast majority of Americans disapprove of Trump on cost of living
In a sign of just how unpopular Trump’s approach on prices has become,
the poll found that only about one-quarter of U.S. adults approve of his
handling of the cost of living.
The consumer price index climbed 3.3% in March from a year ago, and
inflation is slightly higher than the 3% that Trump inherited upon
returning to the White House last year. Yet Trump has shown little
interest in inflation and played down the rising energy costs caused by
the war prompting Iran to effectively shutter the Strait of Hormuz to
oil and natural gas tankers.
Trump on Tuesday dismissed the war as a “little journey” and portrayed
the roughly 35% jump in oil prices as a positive compared to what he
thought would happen.
He told CNBC in an interview that he was “surprised” that oil prices
were only around $90 a barrel, compared to the $200 that he claimed to
have expected.
Public disenchantment with that attitude is visible among his own
supporters. Only about half of Republicans approve of Trump’s handling
of the cost of living.
Younger Republicans are particularly unhappy. About 6 in 10 Republicans
under 45 disapprove of how Trump is handling costs, compared to about 4
in 10 older Republicans.
Most Republicans who identify as supporters of the Make America Great
Again movement are still largely behind the president. About 9 in 10
MAGA Republicans approve of Trump’s job performance, compared to 44% of
non-MAGA Republicans, although only about 7 in 10 MAGA Republicans
approve of him on cost of living.
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President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office of the White
House, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia
Demaree Nikhinson)
Miguel Cortes, a 67-year-old retired aircraft mechanic in South
Carolina, believes the increase in prices from tariffs and the Iran
war is simply a temporary price to pay. As for gasoline costs
rising, “it is what it is, I’m not going to complain,” he said.
“People are just going to have to deal with it.”
“From deep in my soul, I believe God put him there for a reason,”
said Cortes, who has a tin sign of “Make America Great” in his
garage near a National Rifle Association plaque.
Americans are gloomier about the U.S. economy
About three-quarters of U.S. adults described the U.S. economy as
“very” or “somewhat” poor in April, up from about two-thirds in
February.
The drop in confidence comes as the economy remains unsettled, with
gasoline prices higher than they were, as the financial markets for
stocks, bonds and oil continues on a rollercoaster ride that veers
wildly based on Trump’s claims of a coming peace with Iran one day
and a threat to destroy the entire civilization the next.
Americans such as Heidi Bunting, 35, a student with two children,
see an economy in which basic needs such as health care and
transportation are unaffordable.
“It’s awful, and not just for me,” said Bunting, who lives in
Bowling Green, Ohio. “I’m sure the only people doing well in this
economy are those who started with a lot of money.”
Falling approval on the economy among independents and
Republicans
Despite efforts to tout last year’s tax cuts and brush off economic
concerns, Trump’s economic approval remains low among independents
and has even eroded among Republicans.
About 2 in 10 independents approve of Trump’s performance on the
economy in the new poll, down slightly from about 3 in 10 in March.
Far more Republicans, 62%, have a positive view of the way Trump is
handling the economy, but that’s also down from 74% last month.
In general, Republicans are less enthusiastic about Trump’s overall
performance than they were shortly after he took office. In March
2025, 51% of Republicans “strongly” approved of the way he was
handling the presidency, a figure that has dropped to 38% now.
Immigration, another signature issue of Trump’s, is a relative
bright spot for the president. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of
his performance on that issue, which is unchanged from last month
and higher than his overall approval.
Trump’s approval ratings are in line with his predecessor Joe
Biden’s lowest approval rating in AP-NORC polling — 36% — which came
during July 2022 after inflation spiked to a four-decade high.
Biden’s approval ratings recovered slightly as inflation eased,
raising a question as to whether Trump can quickly regroup to show
tangible progress.
Trump came into office last year with relatively low approval — 42%
in March 2025 — which has until now remained fairly stable.
___
Bedayn reported from Austin.
___
The AP-NORC poll of 2,596 adults was conducted April 16-20 using a
sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which
is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin
of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.6 percentage
points.
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