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By Sam Stevenson
Associate News Editor
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President Donald Trump’s approval rating has slipped across every major policy area, according to a new national poll of Americans.
Newsweek contacted the White House for comment via email outside of regular business hours.
Why It Matters
It signals a broad—if modest—shift in public sentiment on multiple fronts as the 2026 midterms move into view, with voters citing inflation and immigration among their top concerns, while also expressing misgivings about immigration enforcement tactics in Minneapolis and across U.S. cities.
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What To Know
Trump’s overall job approval slipped to 45 percent in January, down from 47 percent in December, with ratings declining across key issues including the economy, immigration, and foreign affairs, according to the latest Harvard CAPS/Harris poll.
The survey, conducted online January 28–29, 2026, polled 2,000 registered voters nationwide. It carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points and is a long‑running collaboration between the Harvard Center for American Political Studies, The Harris Poll, and HarrisX.
Across the past year of monthly Harvard/Harris tracking—spanning from Biden’s final month in office in January 2025 to January 2026—the president’s policy ratings have eased gradually, but unmistakably.
That gentle slide has now produced Trump's weakest multi-issue profile in months.
The most pronounced erosion comes on immigration, which fell from 49 percent approval in December to 46 percent in January, extending a months‑long downward trajectory from the mid‑50s reached in early 2025.
Approval on the economy slipped a point to 43 percent from a high of 49 percent in February 2025, and ratings for foreign affairs dropped from 45 percent in December to 42 percent in January.
Even Trump’s historically steadier categories softened.
Approval on “administering the government” declined to 43 percent from 45 percent in the previous survey, and his rating on handling inflation—already a chronic weak spot—fell again to 39 percent from 40 percent in the previous poll, matching his lowest score in a year. Tariffs and trade policy sank to 39 percent as well.
The lone bright spot came on a newly tested item: Trump’s handling of the anti‑U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests in Minneapolis, where 51 percent expressed approval.
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That figure places it among his highest-performing issues, alongside fighting crime in America’s cities (47 percent).
But even that pocket of strength carries cross‑currents. The broader immigration enforcement section of the poll paints a far more contentious picture:
- 57 percent say ICE and Customs and Border Protection have “gone too far” in their efforts to enforce immigration law
- 55 percent disapprove of how enforcement is being carried out in American cities
- 86 percent want federal agents required to wear body cameras
- 80 percent say agents must identify themselves during operations
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Voters overwhelmingly support targeting criminal offenders, but a plurality believe officers are conducting sweeps that pick up non‑criminal undocumented immigrants—a perception that sharply divides Democrats and Republicans but runs against the administration’s message.
The Harvard/Harris time series shows a presidency that peaked early in 2025—benefiting from political handover, a rallying economy, and strong Republican enthusiasm—before settling into a slower, attritional decline through the rest of the year.
Support hasn’t collapsed; it has eroded a few points at a time, across many issues at once. That kind of slippage can be interpreted as electorally meaningful because it tends to signal a broad cooling rather than a backlash tied to one event.
This month’s two‑point drop in overall approval is modest—but it widens an emerging mismatch between Trump’s strongest issues (crime and immigration raids) and the issues voters say matter most, namely inflation and the economy, where his ratings are weakest.
One of the more striking contradictions in the poll is economic attribution. Despite believing inflation is rising and saying the economy is shrinking, some 63 percent of voters now credit the economy’s current condition to Trump rather than Biden—an 11‑point jump.
Half of voters say Trump’s policies have been consistent with his campaign promises, and a majority give him credit for accomplishing “a lot” in his first year. Yet 52 percent say the economy was last “good” in 2020, and 56 percent believe it is currently shrinking.
That tension appears to be weighing directly on his issue approval. On handling inflation and overall economic management, the year‑long numbers show a slow retreat toward the high 30s—a level typically associated with significant midterm headwinds.
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What People Are Saying
Mark Penn, Co-Director of the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll and Stagwell Chairman and CEO, said: "President Trump’s ratings are slowing declining with Americans seeing the economy sagging and inflation raging, even though economic statistics show the opposite.
"On immigration, the public supports removing criminal aliens but believe that ICE has gone too far and is randomly picking up migrants, a policy they do not support. Given these two trends, Republicans are now facing a tough midterm election."
Trump on Truth Social last week: "My polling is highest ever. Thank you!"
He added in a separate post: "Fake and Fraudulent Polling should be, virtually, a criminal offense… I am going to do everything possible to keep this Polling SCAM from moving forward!"
White House spokesperson Kush Desai previously told Newsweek via email: "President Trump campaigned on fixing Joe Biden’s economic disaster and border crisis. By every metric, he is delivering—inflation has cooled, GDP growth is accelerating, and the border is sealed.
"Instead of covering how far America has come in just one year, the media has fixated on one contrived scandal after another. President Trump is most in his element when he’s with the everyday Americans who propelled him to office, and the President will continue delivering results and cutting out the Fake News middleman to tout what he has and continues to do for the American people."
Republican pollster Daron Shaw said: "The president faces two difficult obstacles—the virtually unanimous and intractable opposition of Democrats and the stubbornness of high prices."
What Happens Next
Pollsters will release additional monthly snapshots through the 2026 midterm cycle, which will allow tracking whether concerns about immigration enforcement and inflation persist or recede.
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