WASHINGTON – A majority of Americans say they disapprove of Donald Trump’s second term – with even some Republicans hitting the president – as immigration remains his strongest policy issue.
A new NBC News Decision Desk Poll, conducted along with SurveyMonkey, found that 45% of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, while 55% disapprove. Those figures remain unchanged from an NBC News survey in April.
Trump’s rating differs along party lines. Among Republicans, 89% approve of the president’s second term in office, compared to eight percent of Democrats and 35% of Independents. Approximately 12% of Republicans said they disapprove of the president’s job, compared to 92% of Democrats and 65% of Independents.
Republicans were five percentage points less likely to report that they strongly support the president’s administration, compared to the survey results from April. Much of that shift came from respondents who say they identify with the president’s MAGA – Make America Great Again – movement.
The survey also found a so-called intensity gap among Republicans and Democrats over how they feel about the Trump administration’s actions. Pollsters asked respondents to pick one emotion from a list: Thrilled, happy, satisfied, neutral, dissatisfied, angry and furious.
Fifty-one percent of Democrats agreed that they feel “furious” about the Trump administration, compared to 23 percent of Republicans who agreed.
GOP survey respondents also shifted seven percentage points away from feeling “thrilled” about Trump from earlier surveys: 25% of Republicans said they felt thrilled over Trump’s actions in the latest poll, compared to 32% who said the same in April.
Still, only one percent of Republicans said they felt furious over Trump’s actions.
The latest survey was conducted among 19,410 adults nationwide between May 30 and June 10. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.
Trump leads on immigration issue
Trump has focused much of his presidency on advancing his immigration agenda, including deporting thousands of migrants to countries such as Colombia, Mexico and El Salvador. During his 2024 campaign, the sweeping deportations became his signature promise to voters.
Now, Trump is leading on the issue. According to the survey, 51% of Americans approve Trump’s handling of border security and immigration, while 49% disapprove.
The survey was conducted as Trump sent National Guard troops to quell protests against immigration enforcement in the Los Angeles area, against California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wishes. Additional protests against the Trump administration’s immigration actions have broken out across the country.
On the economy, approximately 45% of Americans reported that “their personal financial situation” is about the same as it was last year, and 34% said it has gotten worse. Approximately 21% said their finances have improved over the last year, results that didn’t see a major shift from NBC’s April survey.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Majority disapproves of Trump, but he leads on immigration: new poll
