Trump Loses His Grip on White Working-Class Voters as Support Turns Negative - NEW POLL

President Donald Trump has slipped underwater with one of the most important blocs in his political coalition, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, which found his net approval among white working-class voters turned negative for the first time in his second term.

The survey, conducted March 26 to March 30 among 1,201 adults, showed Trump at 49% approval and 50% disapproval with white non-college voters, a narrow but politically notable reversal for a group that helped drive his return to the White House.

The shift matters because white working-class voters have long been central to Trump's electoral strength. As recently as February, CNN's polling still showed him above water with that group. According to the CNN/SSRS trendline, Trump was at 54% approval and 46% disapproval among white working-class voters in February, after posting similarly positive numbers in January and late 2025. By early April, that cushion had disappeared.

The erosion comes at a moment when Trump is facing broad public frustration on the economy, historically one of his strongest issues. A separate CNN poll conducted by SSRS found that his approval rating on the economy fell to a new career low of 31%. Roughly two-thirds of Americans said Trump's policies had worsened economic conditions in the United States, and only 27% said they approved of his handling of inflation, down sharply from 44% a year earlier.

The same polling period also captured growing skepticism about Trump's handling of the war with Iran.

Just one-third of Americans believe Trump has a clear plan for the conflict, while only 34% said they approved at least somewhat of the U.S. decision to take military action in Iran. That was down seven points from a CNN poll taken just after the war began.

Taken together, the numbers suggest Trump is being squeezed on the two issues most likely to shape the political environment heading into the 2026 midterms: cost of living and national security. They also help explain why the latest CNN poll found a sour national mood toward both major parties. Just 32% of Americans held a favorable view of the Republican Party, only slightly above the Democratic Party's 28%, while voters who dislike both parties were leaning Democratic by a wide margin on the congressional ballot.

Trump was already in weak overall territory earlier this year. In a January CNN poll conducted by SSRS, more Americans disapproved than approved of his job performance during his first year back in office. By late February, his overall approval among adults remained just 36%, with 61% saying his policies would move the country in the wrong direction.

For now, Trump's decline among white working-class voters is small in raw numbers, just one point underwater. But in political terms, it is the kind of movement that gets strategists' attention fast. When a president starts losing altitude with the voters who once formed the steel beams of his coalition, the warning light is not subtle. It is blinking.