Trump approval rating tanks among 'economically sensitive' independents

Royalty-free stock photo ID: 312956201 NEW YORK CITY - SEPTEMBER 3 2015: Republican presidentialt Donald Trump announced he had signed a pledge not to run as an independent candidate should he fail to win the party's 2016 nomination.

Royalty-free stock photo ID: 312956201

NEW YORK CITY - SEPTEMBER 3 2015: Republican presidentialt Donald Trump announced he had signed a pledge not to run as an independent candidate should he fail to win the party's 2016 nomination.

Lesley Abravanel
October 17, 2025 | 01:57PM ETTrump

According to a new CNBC All-America Economic Survey, Americans' views on President Donald Trump "turned more negative" in the third quarter due to deepening concerns about jobs and inflationk, with the biggest movement seen among independents.

"Together with blame for the shutdown aimed at the president and congressional Republicans, those views dragged down" Trump’s net approval rating on the economy to 42 percent approving and 55 percent disapproving, CNBC says.

This -13 net approval on the economy is the "lowest of any CNBC survey during either of Trump’s two terms," they report.

The survey of 1,000 people nationwide found 53 percent of respondents blaming the potential economic fallout from the shutdown on Republicans in Congress and the president, compared with 37 percent for Democrats.

Respondents in the survey included 40 percent who were Republican and 38 percent Democrat, with the rest identifying as independent.

Trump's overall approval rating dropped to 44 percent from 46 percent while disapproval rose 1 percentage point to 52 percent, with increasingly negative attitudes about his handling of economic issues.

While 34 percent approve of his policies on inflation and the cost of living, 62 percent disapprove — "the worst numbers of the three CNBC surveys during the president’s second term," they report.

And although the poll reflects people voting on party lines, the biggest change here is seen with the independents.

"Most of the movement that’s happening now is among independents, and that’s important because we know … that independents are highly economically sensitive,” said Jay Campbell, partner at Hart Research, the Democratic pollster for the survey. “They’re less sensitive on partisan issues and they’re much more sensitive on financial and economic measures.”

More than the government shutdown, it's the economy that's affecting the president's plummeting approval, says the poll's Republican pollster.

“It is clear that the cost of living in Americans’ own personal lives is much more likely to be weighing them down about their economic confidence than the shutdown,” said Micah Roberts, partner at Public Opinion Strategies, the Republican pollster for the survey.