Polls Suggest Trump Is Losing Ground Among White Evangelicals
Three new polls suggest President Trump is losing support among white evangelical Protestants, Protestant Christians who identify as evangelical, according to a report from NPR published October 29, 2026. Jack Jenkins reported the story for NPR's Morning Edition program. The report also addresses what explains the drop and whether it will affect the midterm elections, the national votes for Congress held during a president's term.
Polling by Reuters and Ipsos put Trump's support among white evangelicals at 63% in October 2026. That is down from 77% in January 2025, when he began his second term. Reuters reported that the support has slipped but remains above 60%.
A separate survey from the Pew Research Center found that 58% of white evangelical Protestants approve of Trump's job performance, while 40% disapprove. Pew said white evangelical Protestants are the only religious group in which more people approve than disapprove of his performance.
The Public Religion Research Institute reported in its October 2026 American Values Survey that 67% of white evangelical Protestants approve of Trump's handling of immigration. Among Republicans overall, 81% approved.
Earlier PRRI data showed movement among other Protestant groups. In a report published in March 2026, the institute found that Trump's favorability fell 10 points among white mainline and other non-evangelical Protestants, from 55% in September 2025 to 45%.
PBS NewsHour reported that the drop in evangelical support is part of a broader weakening of Trump's coalition of voters. Pew also found in April 2026 that two-thirds of white evangelicals say Trump stands up at least somewhat for their religious beliefs.
Support among evangelicals has been a long-running feature of Trump's political base. In 2016, evangelicals backed him over Hillary Clinton by 79 percent to 18 percent, according to Barna research.
