Donald Trump's Approval Rating on Economy Hits All-T...

By Kate Plummer

Senior US News Reporter

ShareNewsweek is a Trust Project member

U.S. President Donald Trump's approval rating on the economy has hit an all-time low in New Hampshire, according to a new poll.

According to a survey by the University of New Hampshire (UNH), Trump's net approval rating over the policy area is -14 percentage points, the lowest it has been in both of his terms, according to the pollster.

Andrew Smith, director of the UNH Survey Center told Newsweek: "Approval of Trump’s handling of the economy is at its lowest in New Hampshire in either his first or second term. While it’s a long time until the election, perceptions of the economy have a significant impact on how the president’s party performs in midterms.

Newsweek reached out to the White House to comment on this story outside of normal business hours.

Why It Matters

The economy is very important to American voters, with a Gallup poll showing that they overwhelmingly cited economic pressures as the key reason they voted for Trump in the November 2024 presidential election. The president pledged to bring down inflation on the campaign trail.

...

Approval ratings are useful in gauging the public's response to Trump's policies and Trump's approval rating will affect how voters behave in the November 2026 midterm elections. Republicans have a narrow majority of 219 to 214 in the House of Representatives, so if they lose a handful of seats it could have a huge impact on the last two years of Trump's term.

Former vice president Kamala Harris won New Hampshire for the Democratic Party with 50.7 percent of the vote in the 2024 presidential election but, by gaining 47.9 percent of the vote, Trump increased his share of the vote from 2020, when he received 45.4 percent of the vote share.

What To Know

The poll found that 57 percent of people in the Granite State disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy while 42 percent approve.

Of those who disapprove, 38 percent cited the president's tariffs policy as the most reason why while—in distant second place—9 percent blamed the price of goods.

Meanwhile, the poll found that overall, 54 percent of New Hampshire residents disapprove of Trump while 45 percent approve, leaving him with a net approval rating of -9 percentage points.

The survey polled 1,402 New Hampshire residents between November 13 and November 17. It had a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points.

It comes amid other broader negative polling about the president. A recent poll by The Economist/YouGov found Trump’s approval rating at its lowest level since he returned to office in January, 39 percent of people approving of the job he is doing, and 58 percent disapproving, a net approval rating of -19 points.

Meanwhile, a Fox News poll found this week that 76 percent of voters view the economy negatively. This makes Trump less popular on the economy than former President Joe Biden. At the end of his presidency in 2024, Fox News polling showed that 70 percent of people viewed the economy negatively.

Speaking to Newsweek, Thomas Gift, an associate professor of political science and the director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, said: "New Hampshire has always had an independent streak among its voters, so it may not be the most representative place from which to gauge national sentiment on Trump’s economic stewardship. Still, it’s hard to ignore when Trump’s tariffs continue to bite and inflation remains above target. For an issue that helped get Trump elected in 2024, the economy looks more like a liability for Republicans heading into the 2026 midterms."

What People Are Saying

President Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social earlier this month: "So many Fake Polls are being shown by the Radical Left Media, all slanted heavily toward Democrats and Far Left Wingers…Fake News will never change, they are evil and corrupt but, as I look around my beautiful surroundings, I say to myself, 'Oh, look, I’m sitting in the Oval Office!'"