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With five months to go until the mid-term elections, voters are not happy with what is in their wallets.
Only 12% say they are improving financially, most think that the economy is in a bad state, more than half think that President Donald Trump’s policies benefit people with money, and their view of the economy is not good.
That’s according to a new Fox News poll that finds the president’s numbers are down from last year.
About 59% of voters feel pessimistic about the economy, 4 points worse than last June (55%). That’s a stark contrast to the improved outlook during Trump’s first term, when 57% felt optimistic (June 2019).
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44 percent say they are behind financially. That’s more than last year by 8 points (36 percent behind) and by 3 points compared to June 2024 (41%).
One in four, 26%, rate the economy positively, up 3 points from last month and generally in line with this year’s outlook – but still below last June’s 31% mark. Almost three-quarters rate the economy negatively (73%).
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Big picture, 37% are satisfied with the direction of the country. That hasn’t changed much since March, but is down from 44% last July. Even down 7 points from last summer, satisfaction is higher today than it was during most of former President Joe Biden’s tenure.
Those satisfaction ratings are largely in line with Trump’s performance, as his approval rating stands at 39%. That’s unchanged from last month, but down 7 points compared to 46% approval last June. His approval rating is at an all-time low of 38% in October 2017.
Twenty percent think Trump’s economic policies benefit everyone, while a majority of 54% say they help people with more money than they do, and 15% say “nobody.” The share that says the president’s policies help everyone is down from 31% in 2019 (Trump), 27% in 2023 (Biden), and 23% in 2015 (Obama).
Opinions about the economy depend heavily on group identification. Among Republicans, the largest number say Trump’s policies are helping everyone (42%), half say he has a tight grip on the economy (49%), half say the economic conditions are good (50%), and two-thirds feel optimistic (66%).
It’s the opposite for Democrats: 81% feel pessimistic about the economy, 91% view it negatively, more than half say it’s lagging behind (55%), and 71% think the president’s policies are helping the wealthy.
The president’s approval rating has fallen sharply in some of his key constituencies, sitting one-third above his floor among men (43%), white voters (44%), white evangelical Christians (61%), and Republicans (81%). His support among White males without a college degree stands at 50%, just 2 points ahead of his low water mark.
The Trump administration’s 23% approval rating on fuel prices marks a rare moment of consensus — voters across the board are happy with the president — as majorities of Democrats (95%), independents (88%), and Republicans (53%) disapprove.
In the economy as a whole, 31% approve of the job Trump is doing, down from a record low of 29% in May. Last year, 40% were approved. While most Republicans agree, most Democrats and independents disagree.
On immigration, 43% approve, Trump’s second term, but still his best issue.
These ratings are driven, at least in part, by 51% who think his immigration enforcement has gone too far.
In addition, views on the role of local governments in immigration have changed. Currently, 53% say local governments should control immigration enforcement in their communities, while 46% believe cooperation with ICE should be required. Last year, it was the opposite: 51% preferred ICE cooperation and 45% preferred local control.
Poll-pourri
Trust in the federal government is below 25%. That’s down from 32% in both 2025 and 2024. The previous low was 31% in 2023. Trust stood at a high of 54% in 2002, but has not reached 40% since 2012.
In the last year of the Biden administration, 44% of Democrats don’t trust the government (2024), and that rose to 73% in 2025 and 83% this year.
Among Republicans, more than 6 in 10 (63%) do not trust the government, up 15 points from last summer (48%), but down from 85% two years ago. Currently, 57% of MAGA Republicans and 73% of non-MAGA Republicans have no faith in Uncle Sam.
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Distrust has held up among independents recently: 80% today compared to 80% in 2025 and 72% in 2024.
Six in ten voters believe the government is spending too little time fighting fraud in government programs, while another 66% say recent efforts are ineffective.
While Democrats (55%) and Republicans (63%) agree that the government is not doing enough to stop fraud, they disagree with recent efforts: a majority of Republicans (56%) say efforts to prevent fraud have been successful, while a majority of Democrats say the opposite (83% have not been successful). Independents’ views are the most critical, as they think the government is not doing enough (67%) and what it has done is ineffective (78%).
Conducted June 12-15, 2026, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News poll includes interviews with a sample of 1,002 registered voters randomly selected from the national voter file. Respondents spoke with interviewers live via landline (101) and cell phone (644) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (257). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. The sampling error of results between subgroups is high. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can affect the results. Estimates are often used for age, race, education, and geographic variables to ensure that demographics are representative of registered voters. Sources for developing weight targets include the latest American Public Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data.
Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.
