A Fox News poll released on Wednesday revealed that 56% of voters feel the Trump administration is unable to effectively manage the federal government. This perspective is shared by 20% of Republicans, about 70% of independents, and 90% of Democrats. Interestingly, 40% of non-MAGA Republicans also seem to agree with this assessment.
In contrast, only 43% believe the White House is doing a good job running the government. This figure is fairly typical, as it mirrors President Obama’s 2015 approval rating of 44% and aligns with Biden’s recent rating from 2022, which was at 38%, down from 51% the previous year.
Daron Shaw, a Republican pollster collaborating with Democrat Chris Anderson on the Fox News survey, noted, “It might be a bit of consolation to the White House, but voters generally have high expectations of every president.” He added that these numbers highlight the challenge of appealing to independents.
On specific issues, Trump received low ratings for handling various matters: immigration (46% approval, 54% disapproval), China (42% to 57%), foreign policy (40% to 60%), Iran (37% to 63%), the economy (34% to 66%), government spending (33% to 67%), and inflation (28% to 72%). His only favorable score was on border security (53% to 47%).
Generally, these ratings were lower than his overall performance as president, which stands at 42% approval and 58% disapproval—slightly worse than the previous month’s figures of 41% and 59%, respectively.
Additionally, some senior officials’ approval ratings were also not great. Vice President Vance’s approval sits at 44% (with 55% disapproving), while Secretary of State Rubio has a slightly lower rating at 44% to 56%, and Secretary of Defense Hegseth is even further down at 41% to 58%.
Looking at the Republican base, Vance enjoys an 84% approval rating, surpassing Rubio (77%) and Hegseth (76%). For MAGA Republicans, the differences are more pronounced, as their support for Vance is about 20 points higher compared to their views on Rubio and Hegseth.
The poll also asked about various personal attributes of the president. More than half of respondents feel that Trump doesn’t empathize with people like them and lacks the requisite judgment, mental health, and temperament to lead effectively.
About 60% believe he doesn’t possess the right temperament—a figure that has risen since just before the 2024 election, when 52% felt similarly. This sentiment is somewhat consistent with views held during much of the 2016 campaign.
A majority, 57%, believes Trump lacks good judgment, although around 42% hold the opposite opinion, a steady figure since 2023 and improved since a low of 36% in 2016.
More than 60% of respondents stated that Trump does not care about people like them, a decrease from 44% interested in 2024.
Furthermore, 55% think he lacks the mental health to serve, an increase of 7 points since late 2024, closing in on the 2023 high of 56%. In contrast, 65% of respondents felt the same way about Biden when he paused his re-election campaign in July 2024.
Among Democrats, over 90% believe Trump lacks the qualities necessary for effective presidential leadership. Conversely, nearly 90% of MAGA Republicans assert that he possesses the right qualifications, though this belief drops to less than 60% among non-MAGA Republicans. Independents are more critical, perceiving him as lacking in judgment, temperament, mental health, and empathy.
The Fox News survey was conducted from April 17-20, 2026, via Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), engaging 1,001 registered voters gathered from nationwide voter files. The margin of error for the complete sample is ±3 percentage points, with larger margins for results within subgroups. Such variations can be influenced by question wording and order, and demographic weights were applied to ensure a representative sample.
