President Donald Trump's return to the White House has left a growing number of Americans grading his performance a middling C- and explaining that it reflects real strains on everyday life. Americans are sharply divided over Trump's first year back in office, but new polling shows that a significant share of adults judge his job performance as below satisfactory—and that sentiment links directly to the economy, everyday costs and a sense of misplaced priorities.
A January 2026 poll found that roughly four in 10 adults approve of Trump's job performance after 365 days back in the presidency — about 40 per cent overall — a number that has barely shifted since he took office in January 2025. Yet beneath this headline figure lies a more telling story: most Americans say Trump's leadership has not eased the cost of living, and that his focus on foreign policy and immigration comes at the expense of pressing domestic concerns.
