President Donald Trump’s rating on economic issues continues to stand well below his overall numbers for handling the presidency, a new Marquette Law School poll finds, even as economic concerns remain at the forefront of many Americans’ minds.
Roughly half of US adults pick either inflation and the cost of living (36%) or the economy more broadly (13%) as the issue that currently matters most to them, the survey finds, with 19% picking threats to democracy, 10% Medicare and Social Security, and 9% immigration and border security. Fewer than 5% choose the size of the federal deficit, health care, abortion policy, or foreign policy, respectively, as their biggest issue.
Most, 63%, say they expect inflation and the cost of living to increase over the next 12 months.
Trump’s approval rating stands at 42% on the economy, 37% on tariffs and just 34% on inflation and the cost of living. By contrast, the survey finds the public evenly split on his handling of immigration, with a 56% majority approving of his handling of border security.
The poll finds that 46% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of his job overall, while 54% disapprove, among the more positive recent readings on his presidency. In CNN’s Poll of Polls average of four surveys conducted in May, including the Marquette survey, Trump’s approval rating stands at 42%, with 55% disapproving. The latest Poll of Polls average, as well as a chart of Trump’s average approval rating over time, is available here.
The Marquette Law School Poll surveyed 1,004 US adults on May 5-15, using the nationally representative SSRS Opinion Panel to conduct online interviews. Results among the full sample have a margin of error of +/-3.6 percentage points.