After a week that brought tough economic news and polling showing Americans’ views of the economy are still sour, most say President Trump has focused too much on tariffs — which they believe will end up raising prices — and not enough on lowering prices. 

This has Americans collectively skeptical right now about the ability of Mr. Trump’s policies to make them financially better off, a sentiment that was key to the success of his 2024 campaign.

Yet that’s balanced out for Mr. Trump today by continued majority approval on immigration and on his deportation program, specifically. That comes especially — but not exclusively — from his Republican base, many of whom say that’s just as important as the economy in their evaluations.

Meanwhile, the public continues to weigh the changes brought by the federal workforce reductions, with many believing they will impact programs they care about. 

But the matter involving administration officials’ use of the Signal app, while seen as serious, does not seem tied to evaluations of Mr. Trump overall. 

From a list of items, most say the administration is focused too much on tariffs, and by contrast, is not focused enough on lowering prices.

Donald Trump won the 2024 election in large part on the economy and the idea that he’d make Americans financially better off. 

Just before he took office, a sizable four in 10 felt his policies as president would do just that.

Asked about what’s happening today, just a quarter of Americans say those policies are making them financially better off. Nearly twice as many say he’s making their finances worse. 

Even among Republicans, things have tempered. Just before he took office, three-fourths of Republicans said Mr. Trump’s policies as president would make them better off, and now, under half of them say that’s what is happening so far.

Tariffs, or the threat of them, don’t seem to be helping.

Most oppose new tariffs, as they have for a while, and big numbers think that’ll lead to higher prices in the short term. 

The administration has argued that tariffs will have long-term benefits, but people are more inclined to think they’ll raise prices rather than lower them in the long term, too. Tariffs on imported cars in particular aren’t popular, either. 

(Prices, of course, have been a key concern for years. They are the number one reason that people still rate the economy badly, according to recent polling.)

Importantly, though, Mr. Trump doesn’t fully “own” the issue. Joe Biden still gets a little more blame for today’s inflation rate than Mr. Trump does. 

Mr. Trump’s approval for handling inflation specifically remains negative, and his rating on handling the economy in general has edged into negative territory since last month. 

That balances against net-positive ratings for immigration (which are extremely positive with Republicans), and he’s even overall. 

His overall approval rating has ticked down just a point from last month and is a few points lower than at the start of his term, though it remains above what he got at any point during his first term.

Trump’s deportation program, specifically, retains majority approval. That hasn’t really changed in recent weeks.

As for some potential implications, as a general principle it’s not acceptable to most if some legal U.S. residents were to be mistakenly detained by immigration authorities. But half of Republicans say it would be acceptable.

Judges and the courts

Americans overwhelmingly support the principle of judicial review of the legality of Mr. Trump’s policies, including most Republicans. But there’s also been calls from some to try to impeach federal judges who rule against Mr. Trump’s policies, and that also finds favor with a majority of Republicans, especially those who identify as part of the MAGA movement.

Federal workforce and DOGE

Views on Mr. Trump’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce are evenly split in the country.

One reason is that most think the reductions will impact programs and services they care about. A slight majority still think Musk and DOGE have too much influence — with Republicans, again, standing differently than other Americans.

On the matter of Trump administration officials discussing U.S. military plans on the Signal messaging app, most Americans, including most Republicans, say the matter is serious. And most don’t think it was appropriate to use the app to discuss military plans.

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to be following this story.

So far, this situation isn’t adversely affecting Republicans in their overall evaluation of Mr. Trump. An overwhelming majority of Republicans who describe what happened as very or somewhat serious still approve of him. Four in 10 Republicans do say what happened was appropriate.

And most Americans would not approve of Donald Trump having the U.S. take control of Greenland.

The Role of Congress

Democrats increasingly call for their party in Congress to oppose Trump — these figures have risen with each poll.

And those Democrats who are calling for this overwhelmingly say their party in Congress could be doing more to oppose him.

Relatively few Americans, including those in his own party, would generally want to see Mr. Trump have more power as president than he already does; they feel he has the right amount now. And they do see a role for the party in Congress. Majorities of Republicans would have their members push back on Mr. Trump if they disagree. 

This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,609 U.S. adults interviewed between March 27-28, 2025. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to gender, age, race, and education, based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as 2024 presidential vote. The margin of error is ±2.3 points.