Poll: Approval of President Trump almost unchanged at 45%

MILWAUKEE (NBC 26) — A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds President Donald Trump’s overall approval rating stands at 45%, with 55% disapproval.

In May, approval was 46% and disapproval was 54%.

Republicans and Trump voters continue to express strong approval, while Democrats are almost uniformly negative.

Independents are substantially more negative than positive, although approval rose in July with this group.

Table 1 shows approval by party since January. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages.)
Table 1: Trump approval, by party ID
Among national adults

The survey was conducted July 7-16, 2025, interviewing 1,005 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points.
There is no evidence that Trump voters are rethinking their support. Among those who voted for Trump in November, 91% approve of the job he is doing and 9% disapprove. Among those who voted for the Democratic candidate, former Vice President Kamala Harris, 4% approve of Trump’s performance and 96% disapprove. Table 2 shows approval since January by 2024 presidential vote.
Table 2: Trump approval, by 2024 vote
Among national adults

On Trump’s signature issue of deporting immigrants in the United States illegally, 57% favor and 43% oppose such deportations. That is lower than in May, when 66% were in favor and 34% were opposed. Support peaked in March at 68%.
Republicans remain overwhelmingly in favor of deportations, while a majority of independents are now opposed, after a notable decline in their support from May to July. Support among independents fell by 20 percentage points from May to July. The disapproval rate among Democrats, which has been high throughout 2025, rose 17 percentage points higher from May to July. Table 3 shows these data.
Table 3: Deportations, by party ID
Among national adults

Support for deporting immigrants who are long-time residents, with jobs and no criminal record, has been consistently lower, with majorities opposed to deportation of this category of immigrants. In July, 62% are opposed to deporting these immigrants, with 38% in favor. This is a small decline in support since May, when 42% were in favor. It is the lowest level of support since Trump took office in January. A majority of Republicans favor deporting those with jobs and no criminal record, while majorities of independents and Democrats oppose these deportations. Support declined slightly in each partisan group from May to July, as shown in Table 4.
Table 4: Deportations including those with jobs and no criminal record, by party ID
Among national adults

During the campaign, Trump emphasized deporting immigrants with criminal records. In July, 55% of respondents believe that the United States is mostly deporting immigrants who have no criminal record, while 45% believe most of those deported do have criminal records. There is a partisan split in this perception, with a majority of Republicans believing deportations are focused on those with criminal records, while majorities of independents and Democrats think deportations mostly involve those without criminal records, as shown in Table 5.
Table 5: Believe U.S. is mostly deporting criminals, by party identification
Among adults

Trump has continued to focus on raising tariffs throughout his first six months of this term in office, but the public remains skeptical that tariffs will help the economy. In July, 28% think tariffs will help the economy, while 59% think they will hurt it and 12% think tariffs will not make much difference. This is a small decline in the percentage saying tariffs help the economy, from 32% in May, and is the same percentage as in March. While most Americans think tariffs hurt the economy, a majority of Republicans believe they help. A majority of independents think they hurt, as do almost all Democrats, as shown in Table 6.
Table 6: Tariffs help or hurt the economy, by party identification
Among adults

Inflation is cited as the most important issue facing the country by 34% of respondents, followed by the economy at 16% in July. The public remains skeptical that Trump’s policies will bring down inflation, with 28% saying his policies will decrease inflation, 60% saying they will increase inflation, and 12% saying they will have no effect. A majority of Republicans believe Trump will decrease inflation, while majorities of independents and Democrats think his policies will increase inflation, as shown in Table 7. Confidence in reducing inflation has fallen among all partisan groups since December, dropping by 21 percentage points among Republicans and by 11 points among independents.
Table 7: Will Trump policies reduce inflation, by party ID
Among national adults

Looking ahead, 65% think inflation will increase over the next 12 months, with 18% thinking it will decrease and 18% expecting it to remain about the same. While Republicans are more optimistic than the public at large, slightly more Republicans think inflation will increase (36%) than think it will decrease (35%). Inflation expectations by party are shown in Table 8.
Table 8: Inflation expectations, by party identification
Among adults

Trump’s major policy and budget bill, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” was passed by Congress on July 3 and signed into law by the president on July 4. In this poll, 41% support the law and 59% oppose it. A substantial majority of Republicans support the law while most independents and Democrats oppose it, as shown in Table 9.
Table 9: One Big Beautiful Bill Act, by party identification
Among adults

Following the debate during the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill, more people (68%) think the federal budget deficit will increase than thought so in May (52%). This growth in expectation of an increase in the deficit holds across partisan categories, with an especially notable doubling among Republicans from 22% in May to 44% in July, as shown in Table 10.
Table 10: Will budget reduce or increase federal deficit, by party ID
Among national adults

On June 21, the United States conducted airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. This action is supported by 52% and opposed by 48%. A large majority of Republicans (85%) support this action, while majorities of independents (57%) and Democrats (78%) oppose it. While there was some division regarding U.S. action among Trump’s supporters in media commentary, among Republicans who are favorable to the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, more support the airstrikes, 90%, than among Republicans who are unfavorable to MAGA, 64%.
Trump’s approval varies substantially across seven specific issues, from a high of 54% on border security to a low of 35% on both tariffs and inflation. Net approval, the percent approving minus the percent disapproving, ranges from +8 percentage points to -30 percentage points.
Approval across issues and overall is shown in Table 11. After border security, the second highest approval is for Trump’s handling of immigration, with a net approval of -6 with 47% approval and 53% disapproval. That is down from an even 50%-50% split in May. Overall approval is net negative at -10, followed by handling the Israel-Iran war, foreign policy, and the economy. Net approval of Trump’s handling of inflation and the cost of living is -30, which is tied with tariffs.
Table 11: Trump job approval across issues
Among adults

Approval and issues by partisanship
The strength of Trump’s appeal to his base is clear among Republicans, with more than two-thirds approving of his handling of each issue. Nonetheless, even among Republicans, there is variation across issues, with border security as the highest net approval and inflation and cost of living as the lowest net approval.
A majority of independents disapprove of Trump’s handing of each issue, with border security as the best net approval and inflation worst.
Democrats are extremely negative across all issues. Approval across issues by party identification is shown in Table 12.
Table 12: Trump job approval across issues, by party identification
Among adults

While presidents can be judged on individual issues, they are also looked on as trustworthy or not. To assess this, the poll asked, “Regardless of specific policies, how much do you trust Donald Trump to make the right decisions for the country?” Here, 18% say they completely trust Trump, 27% mostly trust him, 14% mostly do not trust him, and 41% completely do not trust him. There are sharp differences across parties. A majority of Republicans completely or mostly trust the president, while majorities of independents and Democrats mostly or completely do not trust him. These results are shown in Table 13.
Table 13: Trust Trump, by party identification
Among adults

Inflation and the cost of living is rated as the most important issue by 34%, followed by the economy at 16%. Medicare and Social Security is rated the third most important issue at 14%, followed by immigration and border security at 13%. Other issues are seen as most important by fewer than 10% of respondents, with health care at 7%, the federal budget deficit at 5%, the Israel-Iran war at 3%, and abortion policy and foreign policy each at 2%. The full set of issue ratings is shown in Table 14.
Table 14: Most important issue
Among adults

Inflation is the most important issue for each partisan group. There is relatively little variation in ratings of issues across partisan camps, something not seen in approval or policy questions. While Democrats rate Medicare and Social Security a bit more important than do Republicans, and Republicans rate immigration as more important than Democrats, these differences are modest.
The full ratings of most important issues by party is shown in Table 15.
Table 15: Most important issue, by party identification
Among adults

Attention to topics in the news
The public in this month’s poll had paid the most attention to news about the Israel-Iran war and U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, with 65% and 63% saying they read or heard a lot about these topics, respectively. The congressional debate over the “One Big Beautiful Bill” garnered almost as much attention, with 60% hearing a lot about it. The deployment of National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles received a bit less attention, while news about the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador and about the U.S. Supreme Court received much less notice, as shown in Table 16.
Table 16: Attention to topics in the news
Among adults

Views of the parties
Approval of the way Republicans in Congress are handing their job stands at 42%, with disapproval at 58%. This is virtually unchanged from May, when 43% approved and 57% disapproved.
Approval of how Democrats in Congress are doing their job is substantially lower at 34%, with disapproval at 66%. This is an increase in approval of Democrats from 29% in May.
Republican approval of Republican job performance in Congress is 80%, while approval among Democrats of the way congressional Democrats are handling their job is much lower, 56%. Approval of the Republicans in Congress by party identification since March is shown in Table 17 and for the Democrats in Congress in Table 18.
Table 17: Approval of Republicans in Congress, by party ID
Among national adults

Table 18: Approval of Democrats in Congress, by party ID
Among national adults

Six percent of those polled have favorable views of both parties, 27% are favorable to the Democrats and unfavorable to Republicans, 34% are unfavorable to the Democrats and favorable to Republicans, and 28% are unfavorable to both parties.
Elon Musk has said he will support the creation of a new third party, the America Party. With more than a quarter of the public viewing both parties unfavorably, this might be an opportunity for a third party. However, when asked how likely they would be to support the America Party in a state or congressional race, 7% say very likely, 31% somewhat likely, and 62% say not likely. Among those who have unfavorable feelings to both the Democratic and Republican parties, support for the America Party hardly differs from overall support, with 8% very likely, 32% somewhat likely, and 60% not likely.
Ideological perception of the parties
The public sees substantial differences in the parties’ ideological locations, with the Republican party seen as very conservative by 47%, somewhat conservative by 33%, and moderate by 11%. For the Democratic party, 43% see it as very liberal, 26% as somewhat liberal, and 21% as moderate. The full responses are shown in Table 19.
Table 19: Ideological perception of the parties
Among adults

Partisans see their own party as less extreme than does the general public and see the opposite party as far more extreme than they do their own party. Among Republicans, 32% see their party as very conservative, while 69% of Democrats view the GOP as very conservative. Likewise, among Democrats, 16% see the Democratic party as very liberal, while 76% of Republicans see it as very liberal. Independents tend to not see such extreme ideology for either party. Table 20 shows how each partisan group views the parties.
Table 20: Ideological perception of the parties, by party ID
Among adults

Favorability ratings
Opinions on Pope Leo XIV is 36% favorable and 9% unfavorable, with 55% saying they haven’t heard enough to have an opinion. A majority of Catholics have formed an opinion of Pope Leo, while a majority of all other religious groups have not yet. The Pope is seen very favorably among Catholics, with 57% favorable and 5% unfavorable. The full results are shown in Table 21.
Table 21: Favorability to Pope Leo XIV, by religious group
Among adults

Favorability to Donald Trump has varied only slightly since his return to office in January. In July, 43% have a favorable opinion and 56% have an unfavorable opinion. The full trend is shown in Table 22.
Table 22: Trump favorability
Among adults

Vice President JD Vance’s favorability rating has remained stable since January, with a small increase in unfavorable views since January and fewer without an opinion. In July, 38% view him favorably and 49% unfavorably, as shown in Table 23.
Table 23: Vance favorability
Among adults

Since leaving his role at the White House in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), favorability to Elon Musk has declined in July, with 32% favorable and 64% unfavorable, down from 38% favorable in May. These results are shown in Table 24.
Table 24: Musk favorability
Among adults

Direction of the country
The percentage saying the country is headed in the right direction ticked down in July to 40%, with 60% who say it is off on the wrong track. In May, 42% said right direction and 58% said wrong track. The recent trend is shown in Table 25.
Table 25: Direction of the country
Among adults

Family finances
Family financial situations have remained stable since January with only slight month-to-month changes. In July, 35% say they are living comfortably, 47% are just getting by, and 18% say they are struggling. The trend since January is shown in Table 26.
Table 26: Family financial situation
Among adults

About the Marquette Law School Poll
The survey was conducted July 7-16, 2025, interviewing 1,005 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points.
Interviews were conducted using the SSRS Opinion Panel, a national probability sample with interviews conducted online. Certain other data from this survey (focusing on public views of the Supreme Court) are held for release on July 24. The detailed methodology statement, survey instrument, topline results, and crosstabs for this release are available on the Marquette Law School Poll website [law.marquette.edu].