Trump's approval ratings keep dropping — and Americans say a few issues stand out
American approval of U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a major hit across every major policy area, according to two new national polls. While Trump's immigration policy reached its lowest level since his return to the White House, his historically strong fronts have also slipped, according to both The Harris Poll and the Reuters/Ipsos poll. The ratings arrive at a crucial time for the Republican Party, placing it at risk of losing unified power in Washington ahead of this year's midterm elections.
President Trump’s overall job approval slipped to 45% in January, down from 47% in December, as ratings declined across key issues, including the economy, immigration, and foreign affairs, according to the latest Harvard CAPS/Harris poll. The online survey was conducted in collaboration between the Harvard Center for American Political Studies, The Harris Poll, and HarrisX, between January 28–29, 2026, and it polled 2,000 registered voters nationwide.
Further, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted nationwide from January 12 to 13, Trump's overall approval rating fell to 38% from 41%, tying the lowest level of his current term. In the poll, only 39% of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing on immigration, marking a steady drop from 41%, while 53% disapprove of it. Immigration previously marked a brighter spot for Trump's popularity ahead of his January inauguration last year. In the poll, 58% of the respondents said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have gone "too far" in their crackdown, only 12% expressed they had not gone far enough, and 26% said the efforts were "just about right".
In the Harris Poll, the erosion was more significant, as the approval ratings on immigration slipped from 49% in December to 46% in January, marking a steady decline from the mid-50s that the poll recorded in early 2025. However, the poll found a sweet spot for the president on a newly tested phenomenon: Trump's handling of the anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests in Minneapolis, with 51% of the respondents approving of the work. The figure was among the highest category ratings alongside fighting crime in America's cities, where the president snagged a 47% approval rating.
However, in the Reuters poll, respondents expressed that Trump was still doing a better job than his predecessor, Joe Biden. Respondents also displayed more confidence in the Republican Party on the issue, with 37% saying they have the better approach to immigration, and only 32% saying they prefer Democrats. The rest of the respondents said they weren't sure, or that neither of the parties did better.
On the other hand, approval of the economy fell to 43% from a high of 49% in February 2025, as per The Harris poll. Ratings for foreign affairs took a hit as well, falling to 42% in January from 45% in December. The president's historically steadier categories, like "administering the government," also witnessed a decline from 45% to 43% in January 2026. Meanwhile, his chronically weaker spot, "handling inflation," registered another fall from 40% to 39%, matching Trump's lowest score in a year. His signature, "Tariffs and trade policy," also eroded to 39%.
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