Fewer approve of Trump's handling of the economy - AP-NORC
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
About 7 in 10 Americans describe the national economy as poor and think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
April 21, 2026
As gas prices have risen amid the ongoing war in Iran, public views of President Trump's handling of the economy have declined. Thirty percent approve of his handling of the economy, down from 38% in March. Seventy-two percent say the country is heading in the wrong direction, about the same as in February.
Just 23% approve of how he is handling the cost of living, while 76% disapprove. At the same time, a growing number of Americans say the U.S. economy is not doing well: 73% now describe the economy as poor, up from 66% in February.
Although Trump's approval rating has declined slightly since March (33% vs. 38%), his favorability has remained about the same, with 33% holding a favorable opinion, compared with 34% in February. Views of Vice President JD Vance and of the Republican and Democratic parties have also remained consistent.
The nationwide poll was conducted April 16-20, 2026 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 2,596 adults. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 3.4 percentage points.
- Suggested Citation: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. "Fewer approve of Trump's handling of the economy" (April 2026).https://apnorc.org/projects/fewer-approve-of-trumps-handling-of-the-economy/
Tags
Who is online
86 visitors
On what grounds would someone approve of Trump's handling of the economy?
Did the economy actually get stronger during the Iran war? Here’s what the numbers tell us.
The economy is a slow-moving mechanism. The war being only a couple of months old is not going to show up in the economy. Besides that, it defies all analytical sense to think that the Iran war has improved our economy.
The stock market is a different thing entirely. So are crude oil prices. These factors tend to be more responsive to current events. Do you not see the effects of the Iran war on items like that? Do you think we will not see a long continuation as higher fuel prices works its way through our system and into higher consumer prices?
There is no way to justify a claim that Trump's actions are good for our economy. In fact, holding that belief suggests a profound naivety about economics.
look at it this way.
Your Country/company is $39 Trillion in debt and just manages to pay the interest on your loans.
You go out and start a business war/excursion that costs another $50 Billion and is racking up another $1Billion a day
while you are running out of weapons and the financial leverage to order more weapons
and your supply line is over 7,300 miles long. What could go wrong?
Does that sound like sound economics?
On what grounds would someone approve of Trump's handling of the economy?
Trump keeps saying that the economy is in the best shape ever. His biggest concern is "America's strategic shortage of sufficiently opulent indoor gathering spaces" (quoting columnist Matt K. Lewis in today's L.A. Times).
He hates the outdoors, doesn't he? Except for golf. I bet he's never been camping or fishing ever
A good clue was when he called Yosemite "Yo-Semite". I'm surprised he hasn't started renaming national parks after himself.
Trump is the new definition of hubris.
556 late night or early morning tweets on Truth Social in April.
Truth Social is the Alternate Truth Universe.
He's nuts.