Fox News Poll: Voters say White House is doing more harm than good on economy

Unhappy with the economy. Pain with prices. Unsure about Trump administration policies. It adds up to high disapproval among the president’s loyal constituencies.

Here are six takeaways from the latest Fox News national survey.

— Some 76% of voters view the economy negatively. That’s worse than the 67% who felt that way in July, and the 70% who said the same at the end of former President Biden’s term.

— Large numbers, overall and among Republicans, say their costs for groceries, utilities, healthcare, and housing have gone up this year.

— Voters blame the president. About twice as many say President Donald Trump, rather than Biden, is responsible for the current economy. And three times as many say Trump’s economic policies have hurt them (note, they said the same about Biden’s last year). Plus, approval of how Trump is handling the economy hit a new low, and disapproval of his overall job performance hit record highs among core supporters.

— After the government shutdown, the GOP and the Democratic Party have lower favorable ratings, and roughly 6 in 10 say the president and lawmakers on both sides don’t care about people like them.

— Voters think Republicans have a better plan for border security, immigration, and crime, while Democrats are seen as better on affordability, wages, healthcare, and climate.

— Views are divided on Trump’s peace deals making the world safer and the administration’s strategy for dealing with alleged drug-traffickers.

Here are the numbers behind those findings.

FOX NEWS VOTER POLL – CHANGE CANDIDATE MAMDANI DEFEATS LEGACY POLITICAL FIGURES 

Trump’s job performance garners career-high disapproval among men, White voters, and those without a college degree.

Eighty-six percent of Republicans approve, down from 92% in March. 

Among all voters, 41% approve of the job Trump is doing, while 58% disapprove. Only once have his ratings been lower and that was during his first term: 38-57% in October 2017. Two months ago, it was 46-54%. 

For comparison, Biden’s marks were a bit better at the same point in his presidency: 44% approved and 54% disapproved in November 2021.

Forty percent of voters rate their personal finances as excellent/good, while 60% say only fair/poor, which is about where things stood a year ago. Ratings are notably bad (roughly 70% negative), among non-college voters, Hispanics, Blacks, independents, and those under age 45. For those with household income below $50K, fully 79% rate their finances negatively.

FOX NEWS VOTER POLL: NEW JERSEY GOVERNORSHIP REMAINS DEMOCRATIC WITH SHERRILL WIN

When it comes to the national economy versus personal finances, evaluations are also negative, as most say conditions are only fair/poor (76%), and fewer than one in five thinks inflation is completely/mostly under control (18%). 

Compared to a year ago, voters say costs have increased for utilities (78%), healthcare (67%), housing (66%), and gasoline (54%). It’s 85% who say their groceries went up this year, including 60% who say costs increased “a lot.” Majorities of Republicans agree with majorities of Democrats and independents that costs have gone up on each of these items except gas. 

FOX NEWS VOTER POLL: CALIFORNIA VOTERS OK CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING PLAN

At the end of Biden’s term, voters said by a wide 30-point margin that his economic policies had done more to hurt than help their family, driven by three-quarters of Republicans saying they had been harmed. The new survey shows almost identical results, as voters say by a 31-point margin that Trump’s economic policies have hurt rather than helped them, driven by the three-quarters of Democrats saying they have been harmed. In December 2018, during his first term, only 21% overall said they had been hurt by Trump’s policies, including just one-third of Democrats. 

By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, voters say Trump is more responsible for the current economy than Biden (62% vs. 32%). Unsurprisingly, there’s a large partisan gap, as Democrats are nearly 40 percentage points more likely than Republicans to blame Trump. Somewhat surprisingly though, 42% of Republicans blame him, while a 53% majority says Biden is responsible. Among independents, 62% say Trump and 29% Biden.

A larger share believes the Republicans have a better plan on securing the border, dealing with illegal immigrants, reducing crime, and reducing the federal budget deficit. Democrats are preferred on addressing climate change, reducing the cost of healthcare, raising wages, and making things more affordable. The parties are about equal on the issue of job creation.

Congressional Democrats said the shutdown was about extending subsidies for Obamacare. The 2010 healthcare law remains popular, as 54% have a favorable opinion of it — although much of that comes from nearly 9 in 10 Democrats viewing it positively. Not only do voters think Democrats have a better plan for reducing healthcare costs, but also Trump receives his lowest approval on the issue of healthcare. 

“The situation isn’t complicated,” says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who helps run the Fox News Poll with Democrat Chris Anderson. “People are struggling to afford necessities and blaming those in charge. What’s interesting is watching Democrats gain politically from a problem they arguably caused — and that crushed them in 2024. But that’s politics.”

While many families say the government shutdown caused them severe (10%) or moderate hardship (35%), more than half say it was not a hardship at all (54%). 

The shutdown wasn’t a political winner for anyone: nearly two-thirds disapprove of how Trump (62%), Congressional Republicans (63%), and Congressional Democrats (64%) handled it.

A record low 39% have a favorable view of the Democratic Party, down from 42% in July. Another 39% have positive views of the GOP, down from 44% this summer. For Trump, it’s 40% positive, down from 43% in September and 50% in January. 

But it’s Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer whose marks have deteriorated the most, as a record low 22% view him favorably vs. 54% unfavorably, for a net rating of -32 points. His ratings were underwater by 16 points in January. Among Democrats, positive views of Schumer went from 51% in January to 38% today.

The overall marks for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries took a smaller hit (from -2 to -10), as did Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s (from -9 to -15) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s (from -10 to -12). Many are unable to evaluate Thune (54%), Jeffries (38%), and Johnson (31%).

Voters also think their political leaders don’t care about people like them, as roughly 6 in 10 say Democrats (59%) and Republicans (65%) in Congress and Trump (63%) don’t care.

Trump’s job ratings on foreign policy are underwater: 43% approve, while 55% disapprove. Yet views are more evenly divided on whether his recent peace deals will make the world safer or less safe (37% apiece), with one quarter saying not much difference. And 49% favor the U.S. military using deadly force against presumed drug trafficking boats departing from Venezuela, while 47% oppose those efforts. 

The president receives his top marks on border security (53% approve). Nearly half approve of his handling of immigration (46%), while a new low approves on the economy (38%), and about one-third approve on tariffs (35%) and healthcare (34%).

Poll-pourri

The electorate believes the different branches of government are failing to live up to their constitutional obligations. Two-thirds are concerned about Congress (64%) and the Supreme Court (63%) not doing the checks and balances that they should and are giving too much of their constitutional authority to the president. At the same time, about half (47%) are concerned the judicial branch is obstructing Trump’s constitutional authority to carry out his agenda.

CLICK HERE FOR CROSSTABS AND TOPLINE

Conducted November 14-17, 2025, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,005 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (104) and cellphones (646) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (255). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data.

Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.