Poll: Trump’s First 100 Days

This Navigator Research report covers perceptions of President Trump on his 100th day in office, as well as findings from focus groups* among Trump voters in Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania who don’t strongly approve of the job he is doing. 

The latest survey from Navigator paints a grim picture of Trump’s first 100 days in office. We asked Americans to select words that describe their feelings about politics right now. They said they are feeling anxious, discouraged, exhausted, and angry.

Looking back at the first few months of Trump’s second term, Americans say Trump has done more bad than good by a margin of 15 points (50 percent bad – 35 percent good). Among independents, just 19 percent say Trump’s first 100 days have been more good than bad.

This leaves a plurality of Americans to say they are worse off now than they were when Trump took office (42 percent). Among independents, just 17 percent feel they are better off now than they were 100 days ago.

Even Trump voters offer a sobering appraisal of their chosen candidate. A quarter of Trump voters say they are disappointed in Trump or regret voting for him (27 percent).  That number is even higher among those who identify as moderates (47 percent) and among those who do not identify as MAGA (42 percent).

To better understand this moment, we talked to Trump voters in Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania who don’t strongly approve of the job he is doing.  While these voters offered a nuanced picture of political life in America in April 2025, they perfectly captured for us the regrets of the 27 percent:

• “As I watch his asinine comments and actions, I just think to myself, ‘Did I really vote for this guy?’ And I really thought it was going to be better.” – PA woman, independent
•  “[I] had never voted for a candidate in a long time. I should have voted third party. I just wasted my vote at this point because I’m not happy… I’m scared that we’re going to become a dictatorship.” – MI man, independent 
• “With the economy, we were probably expecting a little more leniency with him bringing things down like he promised he was going to help with the economy and promised he was going to help disabled vets, and help this and help other people and help homeless people and help… and he’s not holding any of those.” – PA woman, independent 

Just 44 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s performance as President. His approval is now underwater at net -10, and down from 48 percent in our February tracking. More remarkably, Trump’s historic strength—the economy—has become his weakness. Trump’s approval on the economy is deeply underwater at net -16 (40 percent approve – 56 percent disapprove). His approval rating on the economy is the lowest ever in Navigator’s tracking, and it is even lower among independents (net -31).

On key economic issues, Trump is now deeply underwater. On inflation and the cost of living, his approval is at net -29. Just 13 percent of independents in our April survey approve of the job Trump is doing on the economy. On tariffs, one of Trump’s key policy issues, his approval stands at net -26, with just 18 percent of independents approving of his job performance. Across both areas—inflation and tariffs—only Republicans who identify as MAGA are still supporting Trump. 

In focus groups last week among Trump voters, women in Pennsylvania were most disappointed in Trump’s economy, as an independent said: “I know recently he just signed something about if you’re behind on student loans, I think it’s starting in May, they’re going to start garnishing wages… that’s going to put a huge hinder on our family coming up. We have no idea how we’re going to handle that.” 

Another Pennsylvania independent stated: “He needs to focus on the cost of living because the poor are just getting poorer and [there are] more and more homeless. The homeless and the mental health things that he is not addressing because he is going tit-for-tat, trying to flex with the tariff thing from every other country.”

More than half now say Donald Trump is making the government work worse (55 percent), including 61 percent of independents and 71 percent of those who are unfavorable toward both political parties. This leads a majority of Americans to say Trump is focused on the wrong things (53 percent). Just 30 percent of independents say Trump is focused on the right things. While a majority of Republicans who do not identify as MAGA continue to say Trump is focused on the right things, his support with this group is slipping. In February, non-MAGA Republicans said Trump was focused on the right things by net +50, that has now slipped to net +32, with a third of this group saying Trump is focused on the wrong things (33 percent).

In focus groups, Trump voters note the chaos of the last 100 days. A weak Republican from Pennsylvania said: “I think the last 100 days have been overzealous. I think that he had the mindset that he knows what he’s doing because he’s done this before, and isn’t open to suggestions. And has this bull-in-a-china-shop attitude, and it’s going everywhere. And I think that’s where people are getting confused and feeling like it’s wreaking havoc on everybody’s daily life, and that’s not necessarily a good thing.”  A weak Democrat from Michigan also said: “It feels like decisions are being made day by day, that there’s no real vision. And it’s almost like the administration is reviewing the ratings like it’s a TV show to determine whether people like things or not.”

Majorities describe Trump as “chaotic” and “irresponsible” and say he “looks out for the rich and big corporations” and “prioritizes other groups of people that don’t include me.”   Half of Americans, however, say Trump gets things done and delivers (50 percent), as a North Carolina Republican said: “Honestly, [Trump’s] bluntness feels like he is fighting for something.” 

Critically, just 39 percent say Trump “cares about people like me” and just 40 percent say Trump “shares my values.” A Michigan Republican said: “Do we need to worry about the Gulf of America? Why do we need to takeover Greenland by force? Why do we need Canada as our next state? This stuff I just can’t even comprehend why… I thought stuff I’d be able to tangibly see, like, okay, this is how it’s going to benefit me. Now I’m sitting here, like, how is any of this benefiting me at all?”