More Americans are concerned about prices and Secret Service performance than about the Voting Rights Act
Today, we’re spotlighting the May 1 - 4, 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:
Americans are worried about inflation and don’t like how Trump is handling it
Most Americans think Trump is at a higher risk of assassination than other recent presidents were
Only one-quarter of Americans support letting states draw districts to help minority candidates get elected
Plus polling on the war with Iran, the death penalty, unexpected expenses, what explains success, job happiness, and a new passport design
Inflation and the economy
The latest Economist / YouGov Poll shows that 61% of Americans say the economy is getting worse — the largest share of Americans to say this since 2022, and the most to ever say this in either of Donald Trump’s two terms as president. The question has been asked almost every week since June 2017.
Almost all Democrats (87%), most Independents (64%), and a majority of non-MAGA Republicans (53%) say the economy is getting worse. Among MAGA Republicans — Republicans who say they are MAGA supporters — only 20% say the economy is getting worse. Only 10% of non-MAGA Republicans say the economy is getting better, compared to 51% of MAGA Republicans.
60% of Republicans say they’re MAGA supporters, while 29% say they’re not and 10% aren’t sure.
The increase in negative opinions about the economy comes as 31% of Americans say inflation/prices is their most important issue, among the largest share to ever say this since Economist / YouGov polls began asking about it each week in summer 2022. Another 15% say their top issue is jobs and the economy.
Inflation is the most common top issue for Democrats (34%), Independents (29%), and Republicans (31%).
Only 25% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of how Trump is handling inflation/prices, while 69% disapprove — a net approval of -44. That’s the lowest net approval for Trump’s handling of inflation since his second term began, and is far worse than the net approval for Trump’s handling of the economy overall (-24).
Democrats nearly unanimously disapprove of how Trump is handling inflation (3% approve and 95% disapprove), as do most Independents (16% vs. 75%). A majority of Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of inflation (60% vs. 36), but there is a big split between Republicans who are and are not MAGA supporters. Among MAGA Republicans, 75% approve and 22% disapprove of how Trump is handling inflation, but among non-MAGA Republicans, 32% approve and 61% disapprove.
Overall, 36% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, and 58% disapprove — a net approval of -22. That’s near Trump’s lowest net approval for his second term. Over the past three weekly Economist / YouGov polls, Trump has averaged a -20 net approval, his worst three-week rolling average of net approval this term.
The attempted assassination of Donald Trump
On April 25, a shooter opened fire at the Washington Hilton as it was hosting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The accused shooter has been charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump, in addition to other charges. This week’s Economist / YouGov Poll asked Americans what they think about the risk of assassination attempts against Trump, the job that the Secret Service is doing, and Trump’s plans to build a new ballroom so that larger events could be hosted inside the White House.
After the shooting, Americans are slightly more likely to say the Secret Service is doing a good or excellent job of protecting the president than they are to say it is doing a fair or poor job (46% vs. 40%). Republicans (60%) are much more likely than Democrats (39%) or Independents (42%) to say that the Secret Service is doing a good or excellent job.
Ratings of the Secret Service are better today than they were in July 2024, two weeks after Trump was shot in the ear during a presidential campaign event. At that point, 34% of Americans said the Secret Service was doing a good or excellent job and 53% said it was only doing a fair or poor job.
After the shootings at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and during Trump’s campaign in 2024, nearly two-thirds (64%) of Americans say Trump is more at risk of assassination than other recent presidents. Only 6% say he is less at risk. Republicans are particularly likely to say that he is at a higher risk of assassination. The vast majority (81%) of Republicans say Trump is more at risk than other recent presidents, compared to 63% of Independents and 46% of Democrats.
Americans are divided over the extent to which rhetoric from Trump’s political opponents deserves blame for assassination attempts against him. Half (50%) of Americans say political rhetoric has some or a great deal of responsibility for the assassination attempts, while half (50%) say his opponents’ rhetoric bears only a little responsibility or none at all. Opinions on this question are strongly polarized by political party identification. Three-quarters (76%) of Democrats and about half (53%) of Independents say Trump’s opponents’ rhetoric has little or no responsibility for attempted assassinations, but only 28% of Republicans agree. About half (49%) of Republicans say the opposing rhetoric has a great deal of responsibility.
In the days after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Trump cited the shooting as evidence that his plans to build a new ballroom at the White House would improve presidents’ safety by allowing them to host larger events within the security of the official residence. Despite this, only about one-quarter (26%) of Americans say that it’s not safe for presidents to attend events outside the White House. Americans are about twice as likely to say it’s safe for presidents to do so (48%).
Trump’s decision to tear down the East Wing of the White House to build his new ballroom has little support among Americans. Only one-quarter (25%) support tearing down the East Wing to build a new ballroom, while a majority (55%) oppose it. That’s little changed from when we last asked about the project in February; at the time, 25% of Americans supported it and 58% opposed it.
If the ballroom project were to go ahead, most Americans (62%) say it would be better to pay for it with gifts from private donors than for Congress to appropriate funds for the project. Only 16% would prefer funding by congressional appropriation. Majorities of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans would prefer for the project to be privately funded.
Gerrymandering and the Voting Rights Act
The latest Economist / YouGov Poll finds little support for allowing states to draw congressional districts with the intention of facilitating the election of minority candidates. The U.S. Supreme Court recently limited that practice in a new decision about the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Our polling finds 41% of Americans say most white Americans are willing to vote for Black candidates, while only 29% disagree. Democrats are less likely to agree (30% say yes and 45% say no) than are Independents (39% vs. 26%) or Republicans (54% vs. 17%). A majority of Black Americans say most white voters are not willing to vote for Black candidates (19% vs. 55%), while white Americans are more likely to say most white voters are willing to do so (47% vs. 22%). Residents of the South show little difference from other regions on this question.
Only 25% of Americans say states should be allowed to draw congressional districts in a way that helps minority candidates get elected, while 43% say they shouldn’t. Democrats are more likely than not to say states should be allowed to do this (50% say yes and 24% say no), but Independents are more likely to say no (19% vs. 39%) and Republicans overwhelmingly say no (9% vs. 66%). Black Americans are more likely to support this practice (47% vs. 28%) than are white Americans (20% vs. 47%).
A majority of Americans who say most white voters are willing to cast ballots for Black candidates oppose allowing states to draw minority-friendly districts (18% support and 59% oppose), while those who disagree about white voters are more likely to support than oppose allowing these districts (42% vs. 35%).
Another recent YouGov survey asked a similar question but with different wording: whether it “should be legal or illegal to draw electoral districts in a way that makes it easier for members of a particular racial group to elect their preferred candidates.” There is even less support for this way of drawing districts: 16% of Americans say this should be legal and 54% say it should be illegal.
Quick Takes
28% of Americans strongly or somewhat support the war with Iran and 60% oppose it
That’s a slight decline in support from last week when 30% supported the war and 59% opposed it
49% of Americans favor the death penalty for people convicted of murder and 26% oppose it
If the death penalty is imposed, a majority of Americans say lethal injection should be used; 66% say it should and 16% say it should not
There is less support for allowing execution by firing squad (30% vs. 52%), hanging (23% vs. 63%), or electrocution (28% vs. 52%)
16% of Americans say it would be very easy to meet an unexpected $1,000 expense, while 19% say it would be somewhat easy, 26% somewhat difficult, 20% very difficult, and 19% impossible
37% of Americans say the more important reason for why some people are richer than others is whether they come from a privileged background rather than how hard they work, while 17% say it’s more how hard they work; 33% say both factors are equally important
Among Americans with jobs, 16% say they’re very happy with their job and 42% say they’re happy but not very happy; 30% say they’re neither happy nor unhappy, 7% that they’re unhappy, and 5% that they’re very unhappy
Only 14% of Americans approve of the design for a new commemorative U.S. passport featuring a portrait of Donald Trump. 62% disapprove of the new design
Final chart
(If you can’t see the passport images on the below chart, look at the version here.)
This newsletter was written by David Montgomery, Alexander Rossell Hayes, and Carl Bialik
See a version of this report on the YouGov website, plus the toplines and crosstabs for the May 1 - 4, 2026 Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,573 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%.
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