Trump's approval falls to Biden levels, AI concern remains high, and more polling
Today, we’re spotlighting the May 9 - 11, 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:
Trump’s net approval is holding steady near Joe Biden’s worst numbers
Most Americans say AI development is moving too fast and utwice as many are AI pessimists as AI optimists
Plus polling on the war in Iran, voting, democracy, gerrymandering, Trump’s age, the U.S. economy, and immigration.
Trump approval
In recent weeks, Americans consistently have been more negative about how Donald Trump is handling his job as president than they have ever been across either of his two terms in office, the latest Economist / YouGov Poll finds.
36% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of Trump’s job handling, and 58% disapprove, for a net job approval of -22.
Trump has received worse approval, disapproval, and net approval numbers on individual past Economist / YouGov Polls. But in the past, bad numbers one week often have been offset by less-bad numbers in the next poll. Now, the share of Americans who approve of Trump’s job handling has been under 40% for two straight months, and his net approval has been -22 for three straight weeks. As a result, Trump’s average net approval over the past three weeks of -22 is a record low for his two terms.
Trump’s average net approval of -22 over the last three weeks also matches the lowest net approval Joe Biden ever averaged over three consecutive weeks in his term in office.
Disapproval of Trump is considerably more intense than is his support. 49% of Americans strongly disapprove of Trump’s job handling, compared to only 20% who strongly approve. Of those who approve of Trump, 54% do so strongly, while of those who disapprove, 84% do so strongly.
90% of Democrats strongly disapprove of how Trump is handling his job. That’s not only far more than the 53% of Republicans who strongly approve of Trump, it’s also considerably higher than strong approval among self-identified MAGA Republicans (72%). 22% of Republican MAGA supporters say they only somewhat approve of Trump’s job performance.
Trump has also recently lost support among a key group of supporters: the nearly two-thirds of white Americans who don’t have college degrees. When Trump’s second term began, he had a +28 net approval among this group. This group is now more likely to disapprove than approve of Trump’s job handling, with a net approval of -4.
White Americans with college degrees are 17 points less likely than those without college degrees to approve of Trump’s job performance.
Besides race and education, religiosity is also strongly associated with Trump job approval. Among white Americans with college degrees, 18% of those who never attend religious services approve of Trump — but 49% of those who attend religious services even occasionally approve. There’s a similar split among white adults without college degrees: 28% of those who never attend religious services approve of Trump, compared to 57% of those who sometimes attend religious services. Put another way: White Americans with college degrees who sometimes attend religious services are far more likely to approve of Trump than are white Americans without degrees who never attend (49% vs. 28%).
Approval of Trump has fallen since the start of his term among each of these groups of white Americans, categorized by education and religious-services attendance. For example, a three-week average of Trump’s net job approval has fallen by 18 points among white adults with college degrees who never attend religious services (to -69 now from -51 at the start of his term), and by 17 points among religious white adults with college degrees (+0 now from +17).
Trump’s support has dropped even more among white adults without college degrees, even as they have remained one of his strongest sources of support. Among white adults without degrees who attend religious services, Trump’s average net job approval has fallen 25 points (to +20 from +46). And among non-college white adults who never attend religious services, it’s down 34 points (to -34 from +0).
AI
Many Americans express concerns about how artificial intelligence (AI) will affect the economy and the job market, according to the latest Economist / YouGov Poll. More Americans are pessimistic than optimistic about AI’s long-term effects, but the source of that pessimism varies with age. Young adults are more likely than older Americans to believe that AI will create economic gains that benefit everyone, but they are also more likely to worry that AI will replace jobs they depend upon.
Most Americans (71%) feel that the pace of AI development is moving too fast. About one-quarter (27%) say the pace is about right and only 2% say it is moving too slowly. Democrats (77%) are slightly more likely than Independents (69%) and Republicans (68%) to say that AI is advancing too fast. One-third (33%) of adults under 30 say that AI is moving at about the right pace, the most of any age group, though nearly two-thirds (64%) say that it is moving too fast. Older Americans are most likely to say it is moving too fast: 79% of Americans 65 and older say this.
Most Americans are skeptical that everyone will benefit economically from AI. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Americans say that it is slightly or very unlikely that AI will create economic gains that benefit everyone; only 8% say it is very likely to do so and 28% say it is somewhat likely to. Democrats are least likely to think AI will benefit everyone economically: 48% say this is very unlikely, compared to 40% of Independents and 31% of Republicans. Majorities in all three groups say it is unlikely.
Younger Americans are more likely than older Americans to think that AI will lead to economic gains for all. Nearly half (45%) of adults under 30 say it is somewhat or very likely. Less than one-third of Americans 45 and older say the same. Still, majorities in each age group say economic gains for everyone are unlikely.
Americans exhibit a wide range of concern about AI’s effect on jobs that they and their families depend upon, equally split across four levels of concern. About one-quarter of Americans are very worried (25%), somewhat worried (26%), slightly worried (25%), and not worried at all (24%). A February Economist / YouGov Poll found that about two-thirds of Americans think AI will reduce the number of jobs available in the U.S., so these results suggest that Americans may be somewhat less worried about AI’s effects on their family’s job prospects — or for some people, not that dependent on jobs — than they are about the U.S. job market overall.
While younger Americans express less concern than older Americans about the pace of AI development and the distribution of economic gains, younger adults are more likely to worry about AI replacing jobs they and their families depend upon. 60% of adults under 30 are somewhat or very worried that AI will replace jobs they rely on.
Americans with lower family incomes are more likely than those with higher incomes to worry about AI replacing jobs. A majority (56%) of Americans with family incomes under $50,000 per year are somewhat or very worried about AI replacing jobs they rely on, compared to 47% of Americans with higher family incomes.
Taken together, these factors help explain why twice as many Americans say they are pessimistic than say they are optimistic about the long-term impact of AI on society (51% vs. 25%). Democrats (59%) are slightly more likely than Independents (50%) and Republicans (46%) to feel pessimistic about AI’s impacts. Within age groups, optimism about AI’s long-term effects ranges from 19% of 45- to 64-year-olds to 33% of adults under 30, but AI pessimists substantially outnumber optimists among each group.
Believing that AI will economically benefit everyone is strongly correlated with optimism about AI’s long-term effects. A majority (55%) of Americans who say it is somewhat or very likely that AI will create economic gains that benefit everyone also say they feel optimistic about AI’s long-term effects. In contrast, about two-thirds (69%) of Americans who think it is unlikely that AI will benefit everyone feel pessimistic about AI.
Worry about AI’s effect on the job market is also strongly correlated with pessimism about AI. Three-quarters (74%) of Americans who are very worried about AI replacing jobs they and their families depend upon say they are pessimistic about AI’s long-term effects. In contrast, only about half (48%) of Americans who are somewhat or slightly worried say they feel pessimistic about AI, as do only one-third (35%) who are not worried at all.
Quick Takes
30% of Americans strongly or somewhat support the war with Iran, and 55% oppose it
Despite dissatisfaction with the war being fought under the direction of a Republican administration, slightly more Americans say they trust the Republican Party more to handle the war than say they trust Democrats more (32% vs. 28%)
67% of Americans say voting is an effective way for them to have a voice in government, and 18% say it isn’t
74% of Americans say partisan gerrymandering (when states draw districts that benefit one party) is a major problem. Only 8% say it is not a problem
If one state draws districts that give an advantage to a particular party, more Americans say it is justified for other states to retaliate by drawing districts that benefit the other party than say doing so is not justified (37% vs. 27%)
52% of Americans say Trump is a threat to democracy, and 38% say he isn’t
51% say Trump is too old to be president, and 38% say he isn’t
44% of Americans say the state of the U.S. economy is poor, and another 30% say it’s fair; only 23% say it’s either excellent (4%) or good (19%)
42% of Americans say illegal immigrants living in the U.S. should be allowed to stay and apply for citizenship, while 38% say they should be deported and 7% say they should be allowed to stay but not apply for citizenship
Final chart
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 9 - 11, 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 3.5%.
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The fact that Trump seems to be visibly decomposing in real time doesn’t bother the voters?