MILWAUKEE — A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds that President Donald Trump retains strong influence with voters in Republican primary elections, as seen in recent primaries in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Texas, where Trump-backed candidates defeated Republican incumbents opposed by Trump. Among all Republicans, 71% said they would vote for a primary candidate Trump endorsed, while 20% would vote for an incumbent Republican Trump opposed.
But the poll finds that Trump’s overall support continues to decline, as does support of his positions on some major issues.
Trump’s influence is greatest with Republicans who are favorable to the MAGA movement, 87% of whom would vote for a Trump endorsed primary candidate, while just 9% would vote for a Republican incumbent Trump opposed. In contrast, among the 28% of Republicans who are not favorable to MAGA, 30% would vote for the Trump-supported primary candidate and 48% would vote for the Republican incumbent opposed by Trump. An additional 22% say they would not vote in such a GOP primary, thus further enhancing Trump’s electoral impact.
Trump’s influence within the Republican electorate is also seen in his job approval. Among the 72% of Republicans favorable to MAGA, 93% approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while among the 28% of Republicans not favorable to MAGA, Trump’s approval falls to 36%.
The survey was conducted May 20-26, 2026, interviewing 1,001 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points. For Republicans, the sample size is 413, with a margin of error of +/-5.3. For Democrats, the sample size is 435, with a margin of error of +/-5.2. For registered voters, the sample size is 857, with a margin of error of +/-3.6. For likely voters, the sample size is 576, with a margin of error of +/-4.4 percentage points.
Attention to news about recent GOP primaries with Trump-endorsed challengers to Republican incumbents is not notably high, with 29% saying they heard or read a lot about these primaries. Among all Republicans, 29% heard a lot, 34% heard a little, and 38% heard nothing at all. Attention was slightly higher among MAGA Republicans, 31% of whom heard a lot, compared to 23% among non-MAGA Republicans. Democrats were more likely to say they heard a lot about these primaries than were Republicans, as shown in Table 1. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages.)
Table 1: Attention to GOP primary outcomes, by party identification & MAGA
Among adults
| Party & MAGA | Attention to GOP primaries | ||
| A lot | A little | Nothing at all | |
| Among all adults | 29 | 34 | 37 |
| Republican, MAGA | 31 | 35 | 34 |
| Republican, Non-MAGA | 23 | 29 | 47 |
| Independent | 15 | 34 | 51 |
| Democrat | 35 | 34 | 31 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national survey May 20-26, 2026 | |||
| Question: [Republican incumbents who Trump opposed were defeated in Republican primaries in Indiana, Louisiana and Kentucky by candidates Trump endorsed] Here are some recent topics in the news. How much have you heard or read about each of these? | |||
Trump’s strength within the Republican electorate contrasts with his declining approval among all adults. In this May poll, 38% approve of how he is handling his job as president, while 62% disapprove, a net approval of -24 percentage points. At the start of his second term as president in February 2025, 48% approved and 52% disapproved, for a net approval of -4 percentage points. The decline in approval has been small from month-to-month but has been steady over the past 16 months. This has led to a cumulative decline in net approval of 20 points, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Trump job approval in second term
Among adults
| Poll dates | Net approve minus disapprove | Approve | Disapprove |
| 5/20-26/26 | -24 | 38 | 62 |
| 4/8-16/26 | -21 | 39 | 60 |
| 1/21-28/26 | -16 | 42 | 58 |
| 11/5-12/25 | -14 | 43 | 57 |
| 9/15-24/25 | -14 | 43 | 57 |
| 7/7-16/25 | -10 | 45 | 55 |
| 5/5-15/25 | -8 | 46 | 54 |
| 3/17-27/25 | -8 | 46 | 54 |
| 1/27-2/6/25 | -4 | 48 | 52 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: May 20-26, 2026 | |||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? | |||
Approval of Trump’s handling of specific issues illustrates both relative strength and relative weakness, with net approval ranging from -4 for handling of border security to -62 for handling of gasoline prices. The best issues for Trump are border security and immigration, though both are now net negative in approval. This May survey is the first time border security has been in negative territory in the second term, down from a net +5 in April, while net approval on immigration was unchanged since April.
Approval of handling the economy slipped to 30% in May, down from 32% in April, and approval of Trump’s handling of inflation slipped to 22% from 24% in April. Approval on handling gasoline prices is 19% in May, with 81% disapproving. This is the first time the poll asked specifically about gasoline prices. Handling of the war with Iran receives a 33% approval rating and handling of tariffs 32% approval, both lower than Trump’s overall approval rating of 38%. Approval across all issues is shown in Table 3.
Table 3: Trump job approval across issues
Among adults
| Issue | Net approve minus disapprove | Approve | Disapprove |
| Border security | -4 | 48 | 52 |
| Immigration | -12 | 44 | 56 |
| Overall | -24 | 38 | 62 |
| Foreign policy | -24 | 38 | 62 |
| The war with Iran | -34 | 33 | 67 |
| Tariffs | -35 | 32 | 67 |
| The economy | -40 | 30 | 70 |
| Inflation/cost of living | -56 | 22 | 78 |
| Gasoline prices | -62 | 19 | 81 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national survey, May 20-26, 2026 | |||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? | |||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling each of the following issues? | |||
Trump’s approval within partisan categories also varies considerably across issues. Among Republicans, approval ranges from 87% for his handling of border security to 45% for inflation and 38% for gasoline prices. Among independents, approval on border security reaches 40% and 33% on immigration, while all other issues have approval ranging from 22% for foreign policy down to 7% for inflation and 6% for gasoline prices. Democratic approval is in single digits for all issues except border security at 13%. The full results are shown in Table 4.
Table 4: Trump job approval across issues, by party identification
Among adults
| Issue | All adults approve | Rep approve | Ind approve | Dem Approve |
| Border security | 48 | 87 | 40 | 13 |
| Immigration | 44 | 85 | 33 | 9 |
| Overall | 38 | 77 | 16 | 7 |
| Foreign policy | 38 | 74 | 22 | 8 |
| The war with Iran | 33 | 67 | 16 | 6 |
| Tariffs | 32 | 69 | 12 | 5 |
| The economy | 30 | 60 | 16 | 5 |
| Inflation/cost of living | 22 | 45 | 7 | 4 |
| Gasoline prices | 19 | 38 | 6 | 4 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national survey, May 20-26, 2026 | ||||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? | ||||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling each of the following issues? | ||||
In the 12 months since May 2025, approval of Trump has declined on every issue and in every partisan category. Among Republicans, there have been declines of 5 percentage points or less on border security, immigration, and tariffs. Larger declines in approval among Republicans include 9 points on foreign policy and 10 points on overall Trump job approval. The largest Republican drops in approval are 20 points on the economy and 23 points on handling inflation and the cost of living.
Among independents during the past year, moderate decline in approval is seen for immigration (down 5 points), border security (down 7), and foreign policy (also down 7). Two issues have declined by 14 points each, tariffs and the economy, with overall approval down 15 points. The largest drop in approval is for handling inflation, which is down 16 points.
Among Democrats, no issue has declined by much because Democrats have given mostly single digit approvals throughout the year, leaving little room for decline. The one exception is border security, where approval fell 10 points. The comparison of approval from May 2025 to May 2026 by party is shown in Table 5.
Table 5: Trump job approval across issues, by party identification, May 2025-May 2026
Among adults
| Poll dates | Rep approve | Ind approve | Dem Approve |
| Border security | |||
| 5/5-15/25 | 92 | 47 | 23 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 87 | 40 | 13 |
| Immigration | |||
| 5/5-15/25 | 90 | 38 | 13 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 85 | 33 | 9 |
| Overall | |||
| 5/5-15/25 | 87 | 31 | 8 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 77 | 16 | 7 |
| Foreign policy | |||
| 5/5-15/25 | 83 | 29 | 8 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 74 | 22 | 8 |
| Tariffs | |||
| 5/5-15/25 | 71 | 26 | 5 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 69 | 12 | 5 |
| The economy | |||
| 5/5-15/25 | 80 | 30 | 8 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 60 | 16 | 5 |
| Inflation/cost of living | |||
| 5/5-15/25 | 68 | 23 | 4 |
| 5/20-26/26 | 45 | 7 | 4 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: May 20-26, 2026 | |||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? | |||
| Question: Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling each of the following issues? | |||
Most important issues
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