Majorities of Americans see a weakening economy, no imminent end to the war in Iran, and Trump using his office for personal gain
Today, we’re spotlighting the May 15 - 18, 2026 Economist/YouGov Poll.
Welcome to YouGov’s newsletter The Surveyor, with new polling data, insights, and charts on politics, life, and other topical issues — from our U.S. News team.
In this week’s Economist/YouGov poll:
59% of Americans say Trump is using his office for personal gain
Few Americans approve of Trump’s handling of Iran
A rising share of Americans say the economy is getting worse
Plus polling on rising prices, Social Security, and how the U.S. compares to other countries.
Trump
Donald Trump remains deeply unpopular, with less than 40% of Americans approving of how he’s handling his job as president — as has been the case for 10 consecutive Economist / YouGov Polls. This week’s poll finds that 37% strongly or somewhat approve of Trump’s job handling and 57% disapprove, for a net job approval of -21.
Trump’s net approval has been below -20 for four consecutive Economist / YouGov Polls. His average net approval over the past three weeks is -22, near the record low for his second term set last week.
Several questions in this week’s Economist / YouGov Poll shed light on Americans’ disapproval of Trump. About half (53%) of Americans say that America’s standing in the world has worsened since Trump became president again in 2025. That’s double the share who say that America’s standing has improved (26%).
Most Democrats (90%) and a majority (57%) of Independents say that America’s standing has worsened since Trump took office in 2025. In contrast, a majority (62%) of Republicans say it has improved and only 13% say it has worsened. Among Republicans, there is a divide between those who say they are MAGA supporters and those who say they are not. While three-quarters (76%) of MAGA Republicans say the U.S.’s standing has improved in Trump’s second term, only 29% of non-MAGA Republicans say the same. In fact, more non-MAGA Republicans say America’s standing has worsened since Trump retook office than say it has improved (39% vs. 29%).
Many Americans also say that Trump has been self-serving during his presidency. A majority (59%) think that Trump is using his office for personal gain. Only 30% think he is not. The share of Americans who say Trump is using the presidency for his own benefit has grown since the Economist / YouGov Poll last asked this question in November 2025. At that point, 56% thought he was using his office for personal gain and 32% thought he was not.
Almost all Democrats (93%) and nearly two-thirds (64%) of Independents say Trump is using his office for personal gain. In contrast, over two-thirds of Republicans (71%) say he is not while only 19% say he is. MAGA Republicans overwhelmingly say that Trump is not using his office for personal gain (82% vs. 11% who say he is), but non-MAGA Republicans are about evenly split (41% vs. 44%).
One example of the ways that Trump’s presidency could personally benefit him is a $10 billion lawsuit he brought against the IRS after an unauthorized leak of his tax returns. The attorney general, appointed by Trump, is in charge of the IRS’s defense in the lawsuit. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of Americans say the IRS should not pay Trump $10 billion. Only 19% say it should. Majorities of Democrats (92%), Independents (68%), and Republicans who do not identify as MAGA supporters (59%) say the IRS should not pay Trump. In contrast, a majority of MAGA Republicans (58%) say the IRS should pay $10 billion to Trump; 23% say it shouldn’t.
Foreign policy
Iran
Americans are dissatisfied with the situation in Iran, the latest Economist / YouGov Poll finds. Twice as many Americans oppose the war in Iran as support it (60% vs. 30%). Support for the war has changed little since just after it began in early March. Assessments of Trump’s handling of the situation in Iran are similarly negative, with 59% disapproving of his handling and 31% approving. Democrats disapprove of Trump’s handling by 92% to 5%. Republicans approve by 71% to 24%. Among Independents, 62% disapprove and 19% approve.
Many Americans expect the war in Iran to last beyond the next month: 37% expect it will last a year or more and 46% say it will last more than a month but less than a year. Twice as many believe the U.S. is winning the war with Iran as think Iran is (32% vs. 16%); 38% say neither country is winning. By a similar margin, Americans think the U.S. is more likely to eventually win the war than say Iran is (37% vs. 13%); 29% believe neither will be the eventual winner.
Russia and Ukraine
Nearly two-thirds (65%) of Americans sympathize more with Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, while only 4% say their sympathies lie more with Russia. Slightly more expect Russia will be the eventual winner of the war than think Ukraine will (21% vs. 16%); however, more Americans anticipate neither country will win than say either will. Support for increasing U.S. military aid to Ukraine is currently higher than it has been in recent months: 33% are in favor of doing so compared to 24% who want to maintain current levels of military aid, 10% who want to decrease it, and 12% who want to stop all aid to Ukraine.
Half (51%) of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the situation with Russia and Ukraine; far fewer — 28% — approve. Looking back at the summit held last year between Trump and Vladimir Putin, many Americans believe Putin got more out of the summit than say Trump got more out of it (33% vs. 9%); 23% believe Putin and Trump got an equal amount out of the summit.
The economy
More Americans say the economy is getting worse than have said so at any time in the past four years, the latest Economist / YouGov Poll finds. 63% of Americans say the economy is getting worse, the highest share to say that since summer 2022 and more than had said that at any time during either of Donald Trump’s two terms as president. Only 15% say the economy is getting better.
Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to say the economy is getting worse (87% vs. 34%), while Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say the economy is getting better (36% vs. 3%). This is part of a longstanding pattern of more positive views of the economy’s direction among supporters of the president’s party and more negative ones among the president’s opponents.
Republicans overall are closely divided about the U.S. economy’s direction, with 36% saying it’s getting better and 34% saying it’s getting worse. But among the 62% of Republicans who say they’re MAGA supporters, 50% say the economy is getting better and 18% say it’s getting worse. Among the 24% of Republicans who say they’re not MAGA supporters, 11% say it’s getting better and 65% say it’s getting worse — an even more negative outlook than among Americans overall.
While majorities of Americans of all ages say the economy is getting worse, Americans 65 and older are less likely to view the economy negatively (22% say it’s getting better and 57% say it’s getting worse) than are younger Americans, especially those between 30 and 44 (12% vs. 69%).
Since the beginning of March, the share of Republicans who say the economy is getting worse has roughly doubled from 18% to 34%, a 16-point jump that far exceeds the 3-point jump among Democrats in the same time period. The share of MAGA Republicans saying the economy is getting worse has risen from 11% to 18% over that time. The share of non-MAGA Republicans has risen from 30% to 65%, a 36-point jump. (The sample size for Republicans who say they’re unsure if they are MAGA supporters is small, but negative views about the economy among this group also have risen sharply since the start of the year.)
Last week, 67% of Independents and 42% of non-MAGA Republicans said the economy is getting worse. Today, 67% of Independents and 65% of non-MAGA Republicans say this.
Quick Takes
Majorities of Americans believe that prices of gas (92%), groceries (87%), and housing (75%) are increasing a lot or a little where they live. 3% or fewer say prices of each of these things are going down
Two-thirds (67%) of Americans think Social Security benefits should be increased. Only 2% think they should be decreased and 19% say they should be kept the same
Americans are twice as likely to say that most Social Security recipients pay more than they receive in benefits as to say they receive more in benefits than they pay (34% vs. 18%)
Final chart
This newsletter was written by David Montgomery, Taylor Orth, Alexander Rossell Hayes, and Carl Bialik
See a version of this report on the YouGov website, plus the toplines and crosstabs for the May 15 - 18, 2026 Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,549 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, geographic region, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 33% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3.3%.
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Just who are the 37% that still approve of Trump? Do they live under a rock?
Trump doesn't care what anyone thinks. He is too busy performing the biggest Smash and Grab of the Resources of our American Government including the Treasury Department to give a damn about anything except building monuments to himself! Wow, authorising 40 stock trades a day right before his Administration grants those same companies government contracts.