With just over a year of his second term under his belt, President Donald Trump’s approval rating is underwater among voters nationwide while he is holding steady among Utahns, according to two recent polls.
The Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics polls among Utah and national voters, conducted by Morning Consult, found that 50% of Utahns and 42% of voters nationwide currently approve of Trump’s job performance.
In January’s Deseret News/Hinckley Institute Utah poll, 51% of Utahns approved of his job performance.
In the last Deseret News/Hinckley Institute national poll conducted by Morning Consult in November, Trump’s job approval was at 43%.
In this month’s Utah survey, Trump earns more support among men than women voters. The survey found that 54% of Utah men either somewhat or strongly approve of the job he is doing in office, while 47% of women somewhat or strongly approve.
At the national level, he’s still more popular with men, but his approval rating is only 46% among this population, compared with 39% of women.
Among young people in Utah, Trump’s support is underwater, with only 43% of 18-34 year olds saying they approve of his job performance. Among those in the 35-44 year old age bracket, he has 46% support in Utah.
Trump’s highest level of support in Utah is among those who are 45-65, with 60% approval, while among those 65 years or older his approval is at 50%.
His support in both the Utah and national surveys is largely divided along partisan lines, with Republican-leaning voters giving him the highest approval ratings.
In Utah, 81% of Republicans said they approved of the job Trump is doing, compared with 86% of Republicans nationwide.
Among Democrats in Utah, Trump’s approval rating is 16%, compared with 8% among Democrats nationwide.
Among independents, the president’s approval rating is at 26% in Utah and 31% nationwide.
The Utah survey was conducted Feb. 11-14 among 769 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The national survey was conducted Feb. 10-13 among 2,002 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
What will Trump focus on in State of the Union?
Ahead of the State of the Union, Trump has tried to focus on a message of affordability, as he touts his economic record. But that could be a difficult message amid turmoil on the stock market, and in the job market.
Voters are still facing challenges because of steep inflation during the Biden administration, and Trump’s promise to bring down prices has had mixed results.
The president faces mounting pressure from his own party ahead of the 2026 midterm elections as it looks more unlikely Republicans will be able to hold onto the U.S. House of Representatives.
Trump has also had a rocky start to the year with unrest in Minnesota over immigration enforcement, potential conflict abroad as he mulls military action in Iran, and a recent blow to his agenda after a Supreme Court decision struck down the justification he was using to levy most tariffs.