Is Donald Trump improving the lives of Americans?

Searching for data on how Trump's policies are affecting Americans' lives.

Whether Donald Trump's second administration is improving the lives of Americans is disputed and views differ sharply by party, issue, and metric.

Public Opinion Is Mostly Negative, With a Partisan Divide

Polling in 2025-2026 shows more Americans disapprove than approve of Trump's handling of key economic issues:

•At year-end 2025, overall job approval averaged about 43%, with lower marks on the economy (41%), inflation (36%), and health care (32%).

•An AP-NORC poll April 16-20, 2026 found 30% approve of his handling of the economy, down from 38% in March. In the same poll, just 23% approve of how he is handling the cost of living, while 76% disapprove, and 73% describe the economy as poor, up from 66% in February.

•A May 2026 AP-NORC poll found 37% approve of his overall handling as president, while 62% disapprove, with immigration remaining his strongest issue, rising from 40% to 45%.

•Other polling found net approval of -23 on the economy, -19 on taxes, -27 on government spending, and -28 on inflation.

•A Pew Research Center survey Jan. 20-26, 2026 of 8,512 adults found:

•About half of Americans (52%) say Trump's economic policies have made economic conditions worse, while 28% say they have made the economy better, and 19% say not much effect.

•Among Republicans, 57% say his policies have made conditions better, up 10 points since September, while 85% of Democrats say they have made conditions worse.

•49% of Republicans rate the economy positively, the highest mark of Trump's second term, versus 10% of Democrats.

•Cost concerns remain high. Pew found 71% are very concerned about health care costs, 66% about food and consumer goods, and 62% about housing costs. An Ipsos summary noted 71% disapprove vs 22% approve of handling cost of living.

Broader support for the administration's agenda has also declined: Only about a quarter of Americans (27%) say they support all or most of Trump's policies and plans, down from 35% when he returned to office.

What The Administration Points To As Improvements

The White House cites inflation, wages, and employment data:

•Core inflation has tracked at just 2.1% since Trump took office, levels not seen since the first Trump Administration, and has come in below or at expectations every month.

•Real wages for production and nonsupervisory workers are up 1.3% over last year. Other White House releases say Americans' real wages are on track to rise by 4.2% in the first full year, far outpacing inflation, and blue-collar real wages grew almost 2% in the first five months of the second term.

•The administration reported 2.7 million native-born Americans gained employment between January and November 2025, while 972,000 foreign-born workers lost employment.

•The administration claimed monthly indicators for private employment gains, consumer spending, capital investment, and aggregate hours worked all accelerated since January 2025 while inflation decelerated.

Legislatively, supporters point to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed July 4, which made the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions permanent, added temporary relief including no tax on tips and overtime, and provided a new senior deduction of up to $6,000, which the White House describes as the largest tax cut in history and pro-worker.

What Economic Indicators Show

Independent and media analyses show a more mixed picture:

•The unemployment rate was relatively stable in 2025, edging up 0.2 percentage point from February to 4.4 percent in December 2025.

•Inflation had fallen to 3% in January 2025 from a peak of 9.1% in 2022 before Trump took office, and has since been stuck at close to 3%, above the Federal Reserve's 2% target.

•GDP grew by close to 3% a year in the final two years of Biden's presidency, and grew at a 2.8% pace during Biden's last year compared with 2.2% under Trump in 2025, according to one analysis of scoreboard data.

•Other assessments note concerns about tariffs, war in Iran driving gas prices higher, and immigration enforcement affecting labor supply, which may affect costs and growth.

In short, whether Americans are better off is viewed differently depending on party and priority: Republican-leaning Americans are more likely to rate the economy positively and credit administration policies, while a majority of Americans overall tell pollsters they view the economy negatively, are concerned about costs, and disapprove of the handling of inflation and cost of living. Administration data highlights low core inflation and rising real wages, while polling and independent economic tracking point to persistent concerns about prices and modest growth.

Citations (3)

1apnorc.orgAcademic
Fewer approve of Trump’s handling of the economy - AP-NORC
Backs: “At year-end 2025, overall job approval averaged about 43%, with lower marks on the economy (41%), inflation (36%), and health care (32%). An AP-NORC poll April 16-20, 2026 found 30% approve of his handling of the economy, down from 38% in March.”
2pewresearch.orgNonprofits and think tanks
Americans' Views of Economy Remain Negative a Year Into Trump's Second Term | Pew Research Center
Backs: “Other polling found net approval of -23 on the economy, -19 on taxes, -27 on government spending, and -28 on inflation. A Pew Research Center survey Jan. 20-26, 2026 of 8,512 adults found: About half of Americans (52%) say Trump's economic policies have made economic conditions worse, while 28% say they have made the…”
3whitehouse.govGovernment
Inflation Remains Right on Target Under President Trump
Backs: “What The Administration Points To As Improvements. The White House cites inflation, wages, and employment data: Core inflation has tracked at just 2.1% since Trump took office, levels not seen since the first Trump Administration, and has come in below or at expectations every month.”