President Donald Trump’s approval rating has plummeted among white non-college-educated adults, a new poll suggests, indicating friction within what has been a key pillar of his base in a year when voters head to midterm elections.
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According to CBS News/YouGov polling, Trump’s net approval rating among these voters fell from +36 points in February 2025 to −8 points in May 2026, a total decline of 44 percentage points.
Non-college educated white voters proved key to Trump’s electoral success in the 2024 presidential election, and any sustained decline in support could affect Republican prospects in the fast-approaching midterm elections.
Republicans have slim majorities in both chambers of Congress and losing just a handful of seats to the Democrats could allow the party to hamper Trump or Republican agendas during the rest of the term.
Traditionally, the party that does not hold the White House tends to do better in midterm elections and in 2018, during Trump’s first presidency, Republicans lost the House.
Newsweek contacted the White House by email to comment on this story outside of normal office hours.
Trump’s Approval Rating
The data shows a steady erosion of support among white non-college-educated adults over time, with brief recoveries in late 2025 before a sharper decline in early 2026.
Trump’s net popularity peaked at the start of his presidency when he had a +36 rating among in a February CBS News/YouGov poll.
This apparent honeymoon period soon wore off, and in April 2025, his net approval rating among these voters fell to +14. This polling took place when Trump implemented tariffs on trading partners and the economy suffered.
It stayed steady during the summer, increasing to +16 points in September before falling to +6 in November, amid the government shutdown.
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It rose slightly to +10 points in December. After the U.S. and Israel launched its war against Iran, it turned negative in April, at -4 points. By May 2026, it had fallen further to -8 points.
The latest poll was conducted May 13 to 15, 2026. among 2,064 U.S. adults, and had a ± 2.7-point margin of error. The previous CBS News/YouGov polls ran similar surveys.
Other polls have shown that Trump is losing support among other voting demographics. For instance, his rating among white evangelical Christians fell 5 points between January an April, a NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll revealed.
More broadly, a CNN poll released on May 12 found that Trump’s overall disapproval rating hit 66 percent—its highest level across his two nonconsecutive terms in the White House.
This polling news came as a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report showed inflation jumped to its highest level in either of Trump’s terms.
White House spokesman Kush Desai told Newsweek on May 12 when asked about the polling lows: “President Trump was resoundingly re-elected to the White House precisely because he understood how Americans were left behind by Joe Biden’s economic disaster, and restoring prosperity for everyday Americans has accordingly been a Day One priority for this Administration.
“While the President has been clear about short-term disruptions as a result of Operation Epic Fury, the Administration is focused on implementing the proven Trump agenda of tax cuts, deregulation, and energy abundance to keep America on a solid economic trajectory.
“As traffic in the Strait of Hormuz normalizes again, Americans will again see gas prices plummet, real wages grow, inflation cool, and trillions in investments continue pouring in.”
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