A new poll finds 57% of Americans disapprove of how President Trump is handling the economy, while 36% approve, according to NPR reporting published June 18, 2026.

The June number is better than May, when 61% of people told the Marist Poll they disapproved. That May number itself was worse than March, when disapproval was 58%. Over the spring, disapproval kept climbing. The June number stops that climb, but doesn't turn it around yet.

Looking at Trump's second term overall tells a fuller story. Back in April 2025, Marist found 39% of Americans approved of his handling of the economy. That 39% approval number held steady into February 2026. Now, in June, approval sits at 36% — lower than where it started 14 months ago. The partial improvement in June is real, but the overall trend since Trump took office has moved downward.

The Marist Institute for Public Opinion runs the Marist Poll with NPR and PBS News. They've measured Trump's economic approval numbers the same way since his second inauguration. Using the same polling organization and the same questions makes the trend easier to trust than comparing different polls to each other.

For Republican leaders facing midterm elections, a 57-to-36 split on the economy is a real problem. History shows that how voters feel about the economy is one of the biggest factors in deciding which party wins House and Senate seats in midterms. When more people disapprove than approve by 21 percentage points, that gives Democrats something clear to campaign on in close races. The small improvement from May does give Republicans one argument — the numbers are moving in the right direction — but a 57% disapproval floor is hard to build a strong midterm message on.

The timing of this poll also matters. Gas prices and the cost of living are things voters think about every day, and NPR tied those concerns directly to why people disapprove of Trump's economic record. Whether the four-point drop in disapproval from May to June reflects real changes in how families are doing financially, or just normal ups and downs in polling, will depend on what future polls show.