NEW POLL: Americans Trust Republicans Over Democrats On Most Major Issues in Congress

(Photo Credit: Jacquelyn Martin for AP)

The 2026 midterms might not bring the Blue Wave that many on the left are hoping for — that is, if the results of one new poll are any indication.

A new Wall Street Journal poll published this weekend shows Americans believe Congressional Republicans are “best able” to address most major issues — from immigration to the economy — rather than Democrats.

The poll found Americans believe the GOP is the better-equipped party to handle border security by a whopping 28-point margin — 48% to 20%. Republicans had an 11-point advantage on immigration as well.

Those were the two dominant issues for Republicans — but respondents gave them the edge on a handful of other topics as well, including: the economy and inflation (both +6), tariffs (+2), foreign policy (+5) and the Russia-Ukraine War (+4). Democrats did have advantages on vaccine policy (+9) and healthcare (+15).

Still, on the generic congressional ballot, the Dems had a 47% to 43% edge on Republicans — despite the public siding with the GOP on many individual issues.

WSJ’s poll was based on 1,500 registered voters nationwide. Those respondents were contacted between January 8-13.

The Journal’s poll was included in a story that ran on Friday titled “It’s Trump’s Economy, and Voters are Unhappy With It.” So voters, despite not loving how President Donald Trump is handling the economy, still believe his party is the better party to handle it. The poll found Trump’s approval rating was at 45% — down 1% from its last poll — and his disapproval rating was at 54%.

And in related polling news, a CNN poll showed Democratic lawmakers have a 72% disapproval rating among Americans. The CNN poll was conducted between January 9-12 and had 1,209 respondents.

President Trump earlier this month said he was optimistic Republicans would perform well in the ’26 midterms, despite what recent polling and headlines would lead you to believe.

“We’re going to make history and break records with the epic midterm victory that we’re gonna pull off — that just doesn’t seem to happen for people who win the presidency. It’s an amazing phenomena,” Trump said. “And we sure as hell are having a successful presidency, I will say that.”

He tempered expectations a few days later, though, when he spoke to Sean Hannity on Fox News. The sitting president “always loses the midterm, even if they’ve done well,” Trump said.

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