WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s second-term strengths look different from his first, according to new polling.
Once strengthened by economic issues, Trump’s approval is now relatively low on the economy — and he’s leaning on his stronger issues of crime, border security and immigration. Concerns about the economy and immigration helped propel him to the White House, but polling over the past year shows that Americans’ faith in the Republican president’s handling of the economy is low — particularly among independents — and his approval on immigration has fallen slightly.
Now, Trump’s strongest issues are border security and crime, but there were signs of potential weakness on crime in the most recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
At the same time, Trump’s overall approval has been fairly steady in AP-NORC polling since the beginning of his second term. This month, 39% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, which is back in line with his average approval rating after a slight uptick in August. There was a similar pattern during his first White House term, when his approval stayed within a narrow range.
Here are the issues on which he’s been strongest and weakest in his second term:
Trump’s biggest strengths are border security and crime
Trump has turned border security into a strength of his second term, a sharp reversal from his first term in office.
Most Americans approve of Trump’s approach to border security. He gets higher marks on that than on his handling of the presidency overall or other issues that had previously been top strengths, including immigration and crime. This has also emerged as a unique strength of his second term. Only about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approved of Trump’s approach to border security in 2019, during which time Trump was focused on securing funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
His approval on immigration is slightly lower than it was early in his second term, but it remains a bit higher than his overall job approval.
In March, about half of U.S. adults approved of his handling of immigration. But the most recent measure found his approval on immigration at 43%, just a tick higher than his overall approval rating.
Even with the slight dip, immigration remains a strength in a way it wasn’t in his first term. Throughout his first term, closer to 4 in 10 U.S. adults approved of his immigration approach — but when he started his second term, it was about half who approved.
Trump has taken firm steps to deport immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, and the new poll finds that a sizable share of Americans — about half — say Trump has “gone too far” in pursuit of that goal, roughly the same share as held that stance in a poll conducted in April.
His approval on how he’s handling crime is also down slightly to 46%, after reaching 53% in August as he deployed the National Guard to Washington. But that still exceeds his overall job approval, and it’s also an advantage among certain groups, like independents. About 4 in 10 independents approve of Trump’s approach to crime, compared with 25% who approve of his approach to the presidency overall.
Trump is weaker on the economy with independents
The economy is often a fraught point for presidents, and there are indications that Americans continue to be concerned about the country’s economic state.
Just 37% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s handling of the economy. That’s down slightly from August, when 43% approved, but broadly in line with his overall approval.
The economy is a particularly weak issue for Trump among independents. Only about 2 in 10 independents approve of how Trump is handling the economy, much lower than the share who approve of his handling of border security and crime.
In Trump’s first term, closer to half of U.S. adults approved of his handling of the economy. This height of his success on this issue came at the beginning of 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic sparked an economic downturn. His approval on this issue varied throughout the pandemic, and about half of Americans approved of his economic approach just before he lost the 2020 presidential election. At that point, however, more Americans were more worried about the coronavirus pandemic than the economy. His approval has been consistently lower in his second term — when he came into office, only about 4 in 10 approved of how he handled the economy.
Trump’s lowest issues among Republicans: Trade and health care
Only about 7 in 10 Republicans approve of Trump’s approach to trade negotiations with other countries and health care — marking the lowest issue ratings among his base.
Americans overall aren’t thrilled about how he’s handling these issues, either. Only about one-third of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling either trade negotiations with other countries or health care. These have been steadily low in recent AP-NORC polls but roughly track with Trump’s overall approval. They were also similarly low in his first term.
About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say Trump has “gone too far” when it comes to imposing new tariffs on other countries. That includes about 9 in 10 Democrats but also roughly 6 in 10 independents and 3 in 10 Republicans. Very few Americans, including Republicans, want Trump to go further on imposing tariffs.
Trump is earning lower marks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
About 4 in 10, 37%, of U.S. adults approve of the way Trump is handling the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, down slightly from the 44% who approved in March.
Slightly fewer Republicans approve of how Trump is handling the conflict — 72%, compared with 82% of Republicans who approved of the way Trump was handling the issue in March. Democrats are also slightly less likely to approve: 9% now, down from 14% in March.
Despite this, Trump’s approval on foreign policy has been steady. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve, in line with April.
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,183 adults was conducted Sept. 11-15, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
