Is Donald Trump improving the lives of Americans?

Is Trump improving Americans' lives? I'll pull the latest data on the economy, polls, and policy outcomes to give you a balanced answer.

Whether Donald Trump is improving Americans' lives depends on the metric and political perspective. Data from his second term (January 2025 - present) shows a mixed picture:

1. Public Perception Is Largely Negative on the Economy

Polling in late September / early October 2026 shows historically low approval on economic issues:

•Only 17% of U.S. adults approve of his handling of the cost of living. Just 26% approve of his handling of the economy overall, marking a new low.

•A 14 percentage point drop from March 2025, just after he took office for the second time.

•A majority, 65%, of U.S. adults now blame Trump's policies for persistently high costs more than factors outside of his control.

•Only about 3 in 10 Americans approve of how Trump is handling his job as president overall. About 6 in 10 say the country as a whole is "much" or "somewhat" worse off than when he began his second term.

•The one issue on which he maintains relative strength is border security, with about half of Americans saying they approve.

Other late polls were similar: CNN/SSRS 27% approve on economy, Financial Times 34% overall approval, New York Times/Siena 36% overall approval.

About 7 in 10 Americans say Trump's handling of the cost of living has been "worse than expected," including roughly half of Republicans. About 6 in 10 Republicans disapprove of his handling of cost of living, up from about half in April.

Consumer sentiment also remains low. After reaching a record low in May at 44.8, the University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment for October was largely unchanged at 46.3, compared to 71.7 in January 2025 when Trump took office for a second time.

2. Economic Indicators: Growth Continues, but Costs and Job Growth Have Weakened

Inflation and prices:

•The consumer price index had been rising at an annual clip of 3% in January 2025, when Trump returned to the White House. The last CPI report before Election Day showed inflation was 3.7% over the past 12 months.

•FactCheck.org summarizing the full 20 months: Consumer prices are up 5.4%. Gasoline is up 38%. Over Trump's entire first 20 months in office, the CPI went up 5.4%, pushed up most recently by his war on Iran, which sent fuel prices soaring.

•The average price for regular gasoline was $4.28 the week ending Oct 19, 38% higher than when Trump took office.

Wages:

•Wages just barely rose faster than inflation, as measured since Trump was sworn in. But they've decreased this year. Specifically, average weekly earnings adjusted for inflation rose 0.94% during Trump's first 20 months, with all gains in 2025 and a 0.87% decline since then.

Jobs:

•Job growth became sluggish, with only 776,000 jobs created. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.2%, still historically low.

•Employers are adding on average almost 39,000 jobs a month during Trump's second term, compared to 2,613,000 jobs added during the final 20 months of the Biden administration.

•Federal government employment has fallen by 328,000, or 10.9%, since he took office. Looking only at the private sector, 1,006,000 jobs were added.

Growth:

•The economy grew 2.2% in the second quarter, continuing a steady rate of growth. Real GDP grew at an annualized rate of 2.2% in the second quarter of 2026, and has increased by around 3.2% overall since the end of 2024.

Other FactCheck findings: The trade deficit for the most recent 12 months is down 10.4% compared with 2024, home prices increased 6.2%, the S&P 500 went up 28.6%, and corporate profits continued to rise.

Critics point to tariffs, the war with Iran, cuts to Medicaid and ACA premium credits, and higher food and fuel costs. Supporters point to tax cuts, deregulation and energy production.

3. Areas Where Administration Cites Improvement

The White House lists accomplishments it says improve lives:

•Border: The Trump Administration immediately ended "catch-and-release" — and has not released a single illegal alien into the country for 15 straight months. The U.S. recorded negative net migration in 2025 for the first time in at least half a century.

•Independent check: The number of apprehensions at the U.S. border with Mexico decreased about 91%.

•Crime: The U.S. murder rate fell to a historic low in 2025 — the lowest level in 125 years — after the largest annual drop in violent crime in American history. FactCheck also noted violent crime and murder rates in 2025 continued to decline, dropping by the largest percentages since the FBI began collecting nationwide data in 1936.

•Other claims: Administration says it lowered prescription drug prices, signed the Working Families Tax Cuts (No Tax on Tips, Overtime, Social Security), secured more than $11 trillion in new U.S. investment, achieved record domestic oil and gas production, and expanded manufacturing.

FactCheck also reported:

•Median household income rose in 2025, while the official poverty rate declined.

•The number of people receiving federal food assistance decreased by 6 million.

•The percentage of the population lacking health insurance was statistically unchanged in 2025.

4. Summary by Perspective

Arguments that lives are improving:

•Violent crime is at historic lows, border crossings are sharply down, unemployment remains historically low at 4.2%, GDP is growing steadily, stock market is up, and median income rose.

•Administration argues tax cuts, deregulation and energy dominance will lower long-term costs.

Arguments that lives are not improving / have worsened:

•Inflation has risen from 3% to 3.7% year-over-year, cumulative prices up 5.4%, gasoline up 38%, real wages basically flat and falling in 2026, job growth slowed sharply, and consumer concerns about affording groceries and gas have increased. Polls show a majority blame Trump's policies — particularly tariffs and the war with Iran — for higher costs.

In short, whether Americans are better off under Trump's second term is viewed very differently depending on whether voters prioritize border security and crime reduction, where data shows improvement, or cost-of-living and labor market strength, where polling and recent price data show deterioration.

Citations (3)

1ap.orgNews and mediaquality 0.69
Most Americans blame Trump for high prices as his economic approval hits new low, AP-NORC poll shows
Backs: “Polling in late September / early October 2026 shows historically low approval on economic issues: Only 17% of U.S.”
2factcheck.orgNonprofits and think tanks
Trump's Numbers, October 2026 Update - FactCheck.org
Backs: “About 6 in 10 Republicans disapprove of his handling of cost of living, up from about half in April. Consumer sentiment also remains low. After reaching a record low in May at 44.8, the University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment for October was largely unchanged at 46.3, compared to 71.7 in January 2025 when…”
3whitehouse.govGovernment
President Trump Delivers Historic Results for the American People in Under Two Years
Backs: “Supporters point to tax cuts, deregulation and energy production. 3. Areas Where Administration Cites Improvement. The White House lists accomplishments it says improve lives: Border: The Trump Administration immediately ended "catch-and-release" — and has not released a single illegal alien into the country for 15…”