Donald Trump's net job approval — the share of Americans who strongly or somewhat approve of his job performance, minus the share who disapprove — appears to have stopped a multi-month decline, and is now either flat or trending slightly upwards.
What you need to know about Americans' approval of Trump, as of the January 9 - 12, 2026 Economist / YouGov Poll:
- 40% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of Trump's job performance, while 54% disapprove, a net approval of -14
- That's up from a net approval of -17 last week
- Trump currently has as much or more approval than disapproval among each of white Americans and Americans 65 and older, two large groups that had each been often disapproving of Trump on net in recent weeks
- Meanwhile, in the age group that has often been more supportive than other age groups of Trump throughout his second term — Americans 45 to 64 — 40% approve and 54% disapprove, a new low net approval of -14
- In Economist / YouGov polls from the end of May to the beginning of November, Trump's net job approval fell from -4 to -18
- Since the beginning of November, however, Trump's net job approval has — while swinging up and down — trended up slightly to the current -14
- That change from -18 to -14 is equivalent to an increase of about 2 points in the share of Americans who approve of Trump, since a change of 4 points in net approval generally is caused by an increase of 2 points in approval and a decrease of 2 points in disapproval
- The recent months of stable or increasing job approval numbers for Trump don't necessarily indicate anything about what Trump's net job approval will be in future weeks
Image: Getty (Win McNamee / Staff)
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