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By Sam Stevenson
Associate News Editor
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President Donald Trump’s approval rating has turned negative among Catholics and Protestants, even as support among white evangelicals has strengthened, according to new Fox News polling.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Newsweek in an emailed statement, "The ultimate poll was November 5, 2024, when nearly 80 million Americans overwhelmingly elected President Trump to deliver on his popular and commonsense agenda."
Why It Matters
Religious voters have long been a key part of Trump’s coalition, helping anchor Republican support in national elections.
Read More on Politics
Shifts inside these groups offer a signal of where political pressure may be building ahead of the midterms.
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What To Know
The movement comes from a comparison of two recent Fox News national polls conducted under the joint direction of Beacon Research, a Democratic firm, and Shaw & Company Research, a Republican firm.
The most recent survey was conducted March 20-23, 2026, and includes interviews with 1,001 registered voters.
Participants were randomly selected from a national voter file and responded via live interviews on landlines and cell phones or completed the survey online after receiving a text message invitation, and the margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
That poll shows Trump’s approval slipping into negative territory among both Catholics and Protestants.
Among Catholic voters, 48 percent said they approve of Trump’s job performance, while 52 percent disapprove, a net negative of 4 points.
Just weeks earlier, Catholics had leaned the other way.
In the prior Fox News poll, conducted February 28 through March 2, 2026, Trump held a narrow edge with Catholics.
In that survey, 52 percent approved and 48 percent disapproved, giving him a net positive rating of 4 points.
The earlier poll included 1,004 registered voters and used the same methodology, drawing respondents from a national voter file and reaching them by live phone interviews or online surveys following a text invitation. The margin of error was also plus or minus 3 percentage points.
A similar shift appears among Protestants.
In the late February and early March poll, Trump’s approval among Protestants was evenly split at 50 percent approve and 50 percent disapprove.
In the newer poll, approval fell to 47 percent, while disapproval rose to 53 percent, producing a net negative rating of 6 points.
White evangelicals stand out as the exception, with support among this group having grown over the same period.
In the earlier poll, Trump posted a 60 percent approval rating and 40 percent disapproval, a net positive of 20 points.
By late March, approval among white evangelicals increased to 64 percent, with disapproval dropping to 36 percent, widening his net approval to 28 points.
What People Are Saying
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Newsweek in an emailed statement: "The president has already made historic progress not only in America, but around the world. It is not surprising that President Trump remains the most dominant figure in American politics."
Republican Daron Shaw, who conducts Fox News polls with Democrat Chris Anderson, said: "Historically, foreign policy attitudes have been notoriously context dependent. Today, it seems many partisans rate the Iranian conflict based on their broader perceptions of Trump. Facts on the ground are interpreted to conform to partisan predispositions."
A White House official previously told Newsweek: "Polling shows President Trump's decision to launch Operation Epic Fury has Americans' support—with MAGA and Republicans strongly supporting it. Despite some online commentators with large followings publicly disagreeing with the president's decision—and many legacy media outlets eagerly highlighting their comments to try and sow division—the MAGA base is not wavering one bit."
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