Polls Show Blue Collar Whites ‘Seriously Doubting’ Trump ‘For First Time’ in ‘Extraordinary Swing’: NYT

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Blue collar white voters are “seriously doubting” President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy in a recent “extraordinary swing,” the New York York Times noted after a review of polling data.

Trump has seen his approval drop in several areas as the Iran conflict rages on, but the Times’ Shane Goldmacher wrote that going into the latest midterms this years feels very different from 2018 when Republicans lost dozens of House seats, but gained in the Senate.

According to the Times:

Today, that once-deep reservoir of good will has largely evaporated.

Blue-collar white voters are, for the first time, seriously doubting Mr. Trump’s handling of the economy. A review of polling by The New York Times shows an extraordinary swing on that issue among white voters without college degrees between his first midterm election and now.

The president has gone from “working class white voters” approving of him on the economy by a 30% margin in 2018 to now facing disapproval ratings from 14 to more than 30%.

“His cratering support among a loyal demographic that has served as the foundation of his political coalition for a decade has the potential to be among the most consequential developments of 2026, according to interviews with strategists in both parties who are involved in the midterms,” according to the Times.

Recent approval data from Fox News, CBS, NPR/Marist/PBS, CNN, and the New York Times/Siena College all have Trump at an approval rating ranging from 33% to 47%.

According to CNN polling, the president’s approval on the economy among working class white voters has fallen from 66% in 2018 to 57% now. Fox polling showed a 25% approval on his handling of inflation, and a Times survey found just 36% approval among white blue collar voters on the cost of living.

The cost of gas and other goods has gone up amid the Iran conflict, and inflation recently rose above 4% for the first time in three years.

Republican pollster John McLaughlin, who previously worked with Trump, warned that white blue collar voters are essential to Republicans keeping control of Congress.

“It’s critical,” he said. “If they don’t, we lose the House and the Senate.”

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