Fox News Poll: As prices pinch, voters see Trump focused elsewhere

Even as more voters are happy with how things are going in the country, they’re worried. 

An overwhelming majority expresses concern about high prices. Four times as many say they’re losing financial ground as feel they’re getting ahead, and most think the economy is in bad shape. That’s according to the latest Fox News national survey released Wednesday.

Seventy-two percent rate economic conditions negatively (only fair or poor). That’s an improvement from 76% who said the same last month and the 77% who held that view a year ago, but it’s worse than the 67% who rated it negatively this summer (July 2025). 

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Meanwhile, 44% say they are falling behind financially, up from 36% in June and about where things stood in October 2024. In polling going back to 2018, that number has only been worse twice: 45% said they were falling behind in June 2023 and 47% in June 2022.

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A lot of the negative sentiment is driven by 9 in 10 Democrats and independents giving the economy bad marks and more than half of each saying they are falling behind. At the same time, nearly half of Republicans give the economy negative marks and about 3 in 10 say they’re slipping financially. Those most likely to say they’re losing ground include women under age 45 (57%), households with income below $50,000 (56%), independents (53%), urban voters (49%), and those without a college degree (49%). Women are 12 percentage points more likely than men to say they are falling behind (50% vs. 38%).

All this might shed light on why only 39% of voters approve of how President Donald Trump is handling the economy — one point above last month’s low of 38% — and why 58% think he is focused on the wrong things. That’s about the same response voters gave former President Joe Biden four years ago, when 54% said he was prioritizing the wrong issues.

Approval of Trump’s performance is also below 40% on healthcare (37%), government spending (37%) and tariffs (36%). He received better marks on foreign policy (42%), immigration (45%) and crime (47%). His best job numbers are on border security, where a slim 51% majority approves.

Trump’s overall job rating is upside-down by 12 points — 44% approve and 56% disapprove. That’s a bit of an improvement since a dip last month when it was 41–58% (his second-term low). His highest this term, 49–51%, came in March, while his best over both terms was 49-49% in April 2020.

Views on the direction of the country are on a similar track, with 59% saying they are dissatisfied. That’s a 9-point improvement from a year ago, when 68% were unhappy at the end of Biden’s term. Meanwhile, 41% say they’re satisfied, up from 31% in December 2024. The improvement is driven more by Republicans, whose satisfaction jumped 53 points, than by Democrats, whose satisfaction fell 32 points. Among independents, there is also an uptick (+8).

Despite the current inflation rate being lower than the long-term average, fully 90% of voters are extremely or very concerned about inflation and high prices. That’s the most in more than two years, and 61% are extremely concerned, up from 48% in June and the largest number in more than two years. About the same share is worried about healthcare prices (86% concerned, including 55% extremely concerned).

That explains why the top three issues voters say the president should be paying more attention to right now are high prices (42%), healthcare (19%) and jobs (12%).

And they think he should be paying less attention to immigration (30%), tariffs (28%) and foreign policy (17%).

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The issue both Democrats and Republicans say should be Trump’s priority is high prices, and they also agree the next two issues should be healthcare (to varying degrees) and jobs.

"Trump’s position is better than Biden’s a year ago, but worse than his own in late 2017," said Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts the Fox News Poll with Democrat Chris Anderson. "The problem is voters haven’t gotten used to a six-dollar box of cereal, and they don’t think the president’s policy initiatives — the One Big Beautiful Bill, and on tariffs and immigration — are addressing prices."

Majorities are concerned about the country’s political divisions (82%), the decline of moral values (75%), crime (74%), the federal deficit (71%), AI technology (63%) and climate change (58%). Concern about illegal immigration decreased from 67% in June to 57% in the new survey, while 66% say they are worried about ICE detentions and deportations. 

Democrats are nearly five times as likely as Republicans to say Trump should pay less attention to immigration, while three times as many Republicans as Democrats say foreign policy should be a lower priority. Roughly equal numbers in both parties think he should turn his attention away from tariffs. Tariffs are the issue on which Trump receives his lowest approval among all voters (36%) and among Republicans (72%).

Poll-pourri

– In 2017, during Trump’s first term, 62% of voters felt he was keeping his "America First" promise. Today, that’s down to 49% who feel that way (51% say "he abandoned that pledge"). Most of the decline comes from a 20-point drop among Democrats and a 26-point drop among independents. Among Republicans, 91% said Trump was keeping his "America First" pledge in 2017 and 87% feel he is today.

– While all administration members included in the survey have a net negative job rating, some fared better than others. Secretary of State Marco Rubio received the best marks, with a net negative score of -5 points. Next, it’s Vice President JD Vance, at -8, Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. at -12 each, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at -13, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at -19. Among Republicans, approval hits 87% for Trump and 86% for Vance and Rubio, 80% for Noem, 78% for Hegseth and 77% for Kennedy. Approval among MAGA supporters is even higher: Trump 97%, Vance 94%, Rubio 92%, Noem 90%, Hegseth 88% and Kennedy 87%.

– More than 6 in 10 voters disapprove of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Some 22% of Republicans disapprove of their party’s lawmakers, while 34% of Democrats disapprove of theirs. Three quarters of independents disapprove of congressional Democrats and Republicans.

– Around two-thirds of both parents and voters generally favor banning children under age 16 from using social media platforms as well as banning cellphones in K-12 classrooms. More Republicans favor the social media ban (73%) and cellphone ban (81%) than Democrats (56% and 59% respectively). Non-parents (71%) are more likely than parents (63%) to want cellphones out of school.

– A 53% majority opposes the U.S. military using deadly force against presumed Venezuelan drug-trafficking boats, up from 47% last month. That 6-point increase in opposition comes from Democrats (+8 points), Republicans (+6), and independents (+4).

– Most Republicans (84%) favor using the National Guard and U.S. military to assist local law enforcement in fighting crime in big cities, while most Democrats (87%) and more than half of independents (57%) oppose doing so. Overall, 47% of voters favor the action and 53% oppose it.

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Conducted December 12-15, 2025, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,001 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (116) and cellphones (630) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (255). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis and voter file data.

Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.