Trump Approval Underwater, 53% View Iran Military Action as a Failure
The April 2026 Emerson College Polling national survey of likely voters finds Democrats have a 10-point advantage on the generic congressional ballot, leading Republicans 50% to 40%. Ten percent are undecided.
“Democrats’ strength is driven by an increase in support among Hispanic voters, women, and independents,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “Hispanics break for Democrats by a 35-point margin, 61% to 26%, women by 21 points, 55% to 34%, and independents by 19 points, 50% to 31%.”
President Trump holds a 40% job approval rating and 56% disapproval among likely voters. This is a two-point decrease in the president’s approval and a five-point increase in disapproval since March. Data was collected before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“Trump is underwater among Hispanic voters, 70% to 29%, compared to this time last year when they were split: 44% disapproved and 41% approved,” Kimball said.
Voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, 56% to 38%, foreign policy, 54% to 39%, and immigration policy, 53% to 43%.
Compared to April 2025, disapproval of Trump’s handling of the economy increased seven points, from 49% to 56%, while approval remained steady, from 37% to 38%. Disapproval on foreign policy increased eight points, 46% to 54%, while approval decreased four points, from 43% to 39%. Disapproval of immigration policy increased nine points, from 44% to 53%, and approval decreased two points, 45% to 43%.
“Independent voters’ disapproval of the administration’s handling of immigration increased 17 points from last year, 43% to 60%, the economy by 13 points, 51% to 64%, and foreign policy 15 points, 46% to 61%,” Kimball noted.
A majority of voters (53%) view U.S. military action in Iran as more of a failure, while 35% view it as more of a success. Twelve percent are not sure.
“Republican voters view the military action in Iran as a success at 66%, while 57% of independents view it as a failure, aligning more with Democrats who view it as a failure at 80%,” Kimball noted.
The economy remains the top issue for 40% of likely voters, followed by threats to democracy (15%), healthcare (13%), immigration (12%), crime (7%), and housing affordability (4%).
Methodology
The Emerson College Polling national survey was conducted April 24-26, 2026. The overall sample of US likely voters, n=1,000, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 3 percent. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, party registration, and region based on U.S. Census parameters and voter file data.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
Data was collected by contacting a probability-based panel of voters provided by Consensus Strategies using MMS text-to-web, with additional panel interviews provided by PureSpectrum. Panel responses were matched to the Aristotle voter file using respondents’ full name and ZIP code. The survey was administered using QuestionPro. The survey was offered in English.
All questions asked in this survey with exact wording and order, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found below.
