A new NBC News Poll shows that 62% of Americans disapprove of President Trump’s handling of inflation and the cost of living.
WASHINGTON D.C., DC — A new NBC News Poll shows that President Donald Trump’s overall ratings remain stable, but there is a high level of dissatisfaction with Trump’s handling of several key issues, including inflation, tarriffs and immigration.
The survey shows that 44% of Americans approve of Trump’s job, which is similar to the last NBC News Poll, which showed that 43% approval rate.
Meanwhile, 62% said they disapprove of Trump’s handling of inflation and the cost of living. Only 36% of Americans said they approve of his job, revealing a 6-point drop from the last year.
On the question of what kind of change Trump brings to the country, 34% of Americans answered that the president brings the wrong kind of change, while 22% said there have been no changes. The share of people who say Trump brings the right change has dipped from 46% last year to 41% in this survey.
Measuring the overall satisfaction with Trump’s economic policies, 48% said the president’s policies hurt economic conditions, 35% said they helped the economy, while 16% believe there hasn’t been much of a difference.
Regarding Trump’s tariffs, 55% of people say tariffs are hurting the economy, while 33% believe they help.
The survey also shows that a majority of voters prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress after the 2026 midterm. 50% of Americans say they would like to see Democrats control Congress, and 44% say they would prefer Republicans.
At the same time, NBC notes that compared to the midterm elections of 2006 and 2018, when Democrats had significant success, the congressional preference margin for the Democrats is smaller today.
This NBC News Poll of 1,000 registered voters was conducted Feb. 27 to March 3, 2026. The poll, which included 620 cellphone interviews and 309 online surveys completed via text message, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
