Here's where Trump's approval ratings stand on key issues
Trump's approval on the economy, one of his biggest strengths throughout 2024, has appeared to improve slightly after taking a hit from chaotic tariff moves and stock market losses earlier this year, though it largely remains negative. And support for his handling of immigration, while still his strongest issue, has shown signs of weakening as he pursues his campaign promise of mass deportations.
At the same time, his favorability and job approval numbers have ticked up slightly since the Israel-Iran ceasefire took hold, noted Scott Tranter, the director of data science for Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) — signaling some recovery even as the figures remain significantly lower than they were when Trump took office.
Here's what voters think of Trump's job performance and moves on major issues heading into the July 4 holiday weekend:
Trump started his second term with some of his highest approval numbers but crossed into net-negative territory this spring amid blowback over his whiplash moves on tariffs.
After hitting a disapproval high in April, his numbers started to recover slightly in May and early June, according to averages from DDHQ. Last month, though, his numbers sank again, with a roughly 45 percent approval and 51 percent disapproval rating.
At the same time, DDHQ's tracker has seen some improvement for Trump, as last week his net approval reached minus-8 points.
'Both favorability and job approval numbers for President Trump had an uptrend since last week's ending of the Iranian conflict,' Tranter said. 'We are seeing a range for both of these metrics that is for now, higher than the range was in his first term.'
'So, over the course of last week, it's gone up. But it is certainly lower than it was post-inauguration.'
Gallup's tracker puts Trump at a 40 percent approval rating as of early June, before developments including the U.S. strikes against Iran. That figure is not far from the 38 percent approval he logged in June of 2017, during his first term, but is well behind former President Biden's 56 percent at this point during the Democrat's first year.
New polling from The Economist/YouGov conducted June 27-30 found Trump with a net approval of minus 11 points, down from a minus 4 point net approval at the end of May. An Emerson College Polling survey taken last week found a similar slide, with Trump once again underwater.
In a positive sign for the president, his economic numbers appear to be in recovery mode after his aggressive trade moves earlier this year dealt a blow to his approval.
A tracker from pollster Nate Silver shows Trump's approval rating on the economy has appeared to even out after a significant downturn in March and April, now sitting at a minus-12 net rating.
Trump had a 43 percent approval rating on jobs and the economy in the latest Economist/YouGov numbers, on par with the 42 percent logged at the end of last month — though he fell on inflation and prices from a negative 15 points to a minus-24 net score.
Americans' assessments of the economy improved slightly in Gallup's June Economic Confidence Index, climbing from minus 22 points in April to minus 18 points in May and then minus 14 points this month.
Trump scored a major legislative win this week when Congress passed his 'big, beautiful bill,' sending the sweeping package that could add trillions to the federal deficit to Trump's desk. Approval for the bill has been underwater in some polling, and it remains to be seen how its passage could impact the president's broader numbers.
Immigration, another issue that bolstered Trump through both of his presidential campaigns, continues to be one of his strong suits in his second term, but some new polls suggest support for his hard-line stances are slacking.
'He's lost ground,' Tranter said. 'Some polls show he is underwater, and some are back and forth. So I think the consensus is: We can argue whether or not he still has a net positive support on immigration or not, but we can say that it's gone down.'
The Economist/YouGov poll had Trump's approval on immigration at a positive net 7 points at the end of May, before it flipped to a net negative 3 points at the end of June.
In the first few months of his second term, Trump has spearheaded a deportation blitz and worked to end birthright citizenship as part of a major crackdown on immigration. After Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workplace raids sparked protests in Los Angeles last month, Trump sent thousands of National Guard members and Marines to California as he clashed with Democrats over the issue.
A new poll from PBS News, NPR and Marist released this week found a minus-9 point net approval rating for Trump's immigration handling.
A majority of Americans, or 54 percent, described ICE's actions to uphold immigration laws as having 'gone too far,' a figure bolstered largely by Democrats and independents. Meanwhile, 49 percent of surveyed Republicans described the actions as appropriate.
Trump sent shock waves through the political world in late June when he announced that the U.S. had bombed three Iranian nuclear sites, inserting the U.S. into a tense conflict between Israel and Iran in the Middle East.
The president then brokered a fragile ceasefire that ended the 12-day conflict, and he has touted that the U.S. strikes 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear threat, even as some have called that claim into question.
'He's riding high after Iran,' Tranter said of Trump, calling it 'a clear win' for the commander in chief as he pointed to Trump's approval uptick over the past week.
But Americans in the PBS News polling were divided about the U.S. strikes, with a 50-50 split on agreement with the military action. More than 8 in 10 surveyed Republicans supported the strikes, compared with 45 percent of independents and 23 percent of Democrats. Three in 4 Americans also worried that Iran could retaliate after the U.S. strikes.
Americans in CNN polling were even more disapproving, with 56 percent of those surveyed against and 44 percent for the strikes, and 6 in 10 worried that the strikes could increase the Iranian threat to the U.S.
Meanwhile, Trump announced this week that Israel agreed to conditions that could finalize a 60-day ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza amid a conflict that has ravaged the Gaza Strip for nearly two years.
If that deal goes through, it could mark the 'next theoretical big win' for Trump, Tranter said.
Quinnipiac polling from mid-June found low approval for Trump's Israel-Hamas handling, at just 35 percent. He got similar marks, 34 percent approval, for his approach to Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, a three-year conflict Trump has repeatedly claimed would not have happened on his watch.
Trump struggled to make progress toward an end in fighting, lashing out at various points at both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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And I saw military tanks. It was the Customs and Border Patrol, and it might have been military on the periphery." Bass said the scene resembled a military intervention, calling it "another example of the administration ratcheting up chaos by deploying what looked like a military operation in an American city." She described the deployment as "outrageous and un-American," particularly pointing to the presence of "federal armed vehicles in our parks when nothing is going on," the "seizure" of California's National Guard, and "U.S. Marines who are trained to kill foreign soldiers overseas" being "deployed in our American city." "There is no plan other than fear, chaos, and politics," she said, calling the incident part of a broader pattern of intimidation: "Home Depot one day, a car wash the next, armed vehicles and what looked like mounted military units in a park the next day." Bass emphasized that there was no threat at the park — only children attending summer camp. "What happened to the criminals, the drug dealers, the violent individuals?" she asked. "Who were in the park today were children. It was their summer day camp. Those kids now have no activities. They were ushered inside so that they didn't get exposed to the troops that were walking in formation across their playground area." She recounted speaking with an eight-year-old boy who, without being told what was happening, expressed fear of ICE. "Did this eight-year-old tell me that he was afraid of ICE taking his parents, and he didn't think it was good to take people away? So understand that that eight-year-old knows enough of what's going on that he's already traumatized in anticipation." "What I saw in the park today looked like a city under siege, under armed occupation," Bass said. "Spending many years traveling into conflict areas — you know, it's the way a city looks before a coup." Calling it a "military assault on our city," she accused Customs and Border Protection of "randomly driving through the streets, snatching people," often without identification. "There were no protests. There was no disorder that required that," Bass said. "I just think it's important that we continue to tell the truth to the American people." Marqueece Harris-Dawson, President of the Los Angeles City Council, criticized the federal operation, saying, "This morning looked like a staging for a TikTok video. And what we say to Border Patrol is: if you want to film in L.A., you should apply for a film permit like everybody else — and stop trying to scare the bejesus out of everybody who lives in this great city." Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez condemned the federal operation at MacArthur Park as "the latest escalation in the Trump administration's depraved campaign against our city." She described how "the National Guard descended onto MacArthur Park, bringing troops, military weapons and equipment, and armored vehicles to a community park, a community hub, a place where families gather." Hernandez emphasized that the operation took place "while summer camp was in session," forcing "young children... to be ushered into the lower part of one of our buildings" amid "terror taking place in our community." She called MacArthur Park "the Ellis Island of the West Coast," saying it was "chosen as this administration's latest target precisely because of who lives there and what it represents: resilience, diversity, and the American dream." Hernandez warned, "When we invade and surveil our own neighborhoods, when we scapegoat and demonize immigrants, when we disregard due process, we are no longer living under the rule of democracy. We are living under occupation and authoritarianism." Hernandez criticized the federal tactics: "Sending United States soldiers to intimidate children at camp and seeing others at the bus stop is not making anyone safer. Raiding Home Depots is not stopping crime. Tearing families away from children is not upholding family values." She called the cruelty "the point," and vowed that Los Angeles "will continue to resist... demand the immediate withdrawal of federal troops and ICE in our city." She issued a warning beyond Los Angeles: "We are the canary in the coal mine. What you see happening in MacArthur Park is coming to you. A $140 billion new budget for ICE — what do you think that's going to do? That's going to transport what's happening here in our neighborhoods to your front doorstep." She concluded with a call to action saying, "Please support Los Angeles, please support California, but also we need to work together to make sure that authoritarianism doesn't take over our country." During outreach at MacArthur Park, federal agents pointed guns at the team and shouted profanities, forcing them to leave, Maria Soria of the Saint John's Community Health Street Medicine team said. "They pointed a gun at us. They surrounded our van... I thought they were going to actually target us." She added that the situation has made it unsafe to provide medical care to the homeless and immigrant communities. More than 2,300 Angelenos have been "disappeared and uprooted from their homes and communities" since the federal government began its operation nearly a month ago, according to Jeanette Zani Patton, director of policy and advocacy at True LA. The other side According to Fox News, the CBP official Bass spoke with on the phone was Chief Gregory Bovino of the agency's El Centro Sector. Bovino told Fox News, "I don't work for Karen Bass. Better get used to us now, cause this is going to be normal very soon. We will go anywhere, anytime we want in Los Angeles." What we don't know At this time, there was no official explanation as to why such a large presence was deployed if no arrests were made. Federal authorities have not released further details on the nature or scope of the operation. Why you should care The operation brought heavily armed federal agents into a public park with no prior public notice — and ended with no reported enforcement. It drew attention not only because of its scale, but because of where it happened: a dense, residential area with families and children present. The mayor's immediate response raised questions about communication between local and federal agencies, and what protocols are followed in situations like this. It also underscored the scrutiny that large-scale federal operations now face when carried out in public spaces. Big picture view Federal officials have not clarified the purpose or outcome of the MacArthur Park operation. Without arrests, the reasoning behind the show of force remains unclear. The incident has led city leaders and residents to question how immigration enforcement is conducted in Los Angeles, what oversight is in place, and whether community safety protocols are being followed. As federal activity continues in urban areas, moments like this are drawing increased attention — and calls for transparency. Mayor Bass's rapid response underscored the growing tensions between federal immigration authorities and city leaders who have pushed for transparency and community safety over displays of force. What's next FOX 11 is continuing to seek clarity from federal officials on the nature of the operation and whether similar deployments are planned. Mayor Bass has called for further review of the event and its impact on the surrounding community. The Source Information for this story was gathered through direct observation by SkyFOX and includes on-the-record statements from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, as well as an unnamed senior DHS official.
