Trump approval falls, Israel-Iran conflict, anti-ICE protests, and vaccines: June 13-16, 2025 Economist/YouGov Poll
This week’s Economist/YouGov poll covers…
Trump approval numbers matching second-term lows
Strong opposition to U.S. military intervention in the Israel-Iran conflict
How anti-ICE protests are splitting the country
Negative and declining opinion of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his actions
Opinion about Donald Trump
41% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of the job Donald Trump is doing as president — matching Trump’s second-term low for share of Americans approving of his job performance. 54% disapprove, matching his second-term high
The last time this many Americans disapproved of Trump’s job performance was the April 19 – 22 Economist / YouGov Poll
Trump’s net approval of -13 also matches his low for the term
Trump’s job approval has fallen most sharply among younger adults. Just 27% of adults under 30 approve of Trump’s job handling, while 66% disapprove — a net approval of -39
Two weeks ago, Trump’s approval among adults under 30 was 36% approve, 59% disapprove (-19); three months ago, more people in this group approved than disapproved of his job performance (+8)
As Trump’s overall job approval has fallen, so has Americans’ approval of his handling of major issues
Net approval of Trump’s handling of jobs and the economy (-12) and inflation and prices (-22) match the lows in Trump’s second term; immigration (-8) sets a new low
Approval of Trump’s handling of immigration fell sharply from last week, when 49% approved and 45% disapproved (+4); this week, approval of Trump’s handling of immigration has fallen to 44% while disapproval is up to 52%
Iran and Israel
Half (50%) of Americans view Iran as an enemy to the U.S.; 25% say it is unfriendly and 5% say it is an ally or friendly
Only 16% of Americans think the U.S. military should get involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran; 60% say it should not and 24% are not sure
Majorities of Democrats (65%), Independents (61%), and Republicans (53%) oppose U.S. military intervention in Iran
About as many Americans see Iran’s nuclear program as a threat as oppose military intervention in the Israel-Iran conflict: 61% of Americans view Iran’s nuclear program as either an immediate and serious threat to the U.S. (24%) or a somewhat serious threat (37%)
Far more Americans say the U.S. should than should not engage in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program (56% vs. 18%). Similar shares of Democrats (58%) and Republicans (61%) say the U.S. should engage in negotiations
A decade ago, soon after the U.S. and five other countries reached a deal with Iran over its nuclear program, a larger share of Americans (32%) were opposed to the U.S. negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program than are today (18%). In 2015, with Democrat Barack Obama in the White House, far more Republicans than Democrats were opposed to negotiations (52% vs. 18%)
Which strategies do Americans think the U.S. should employ to get Iran to limit its nuclear program, when selecting any option from a list they think is worth pursuing?
No single strategy has majority support, among Americans overall, Democrats, or Republicans. The largest shares of Americans are in favor of threatening Iran with harsher economic sanctions (28%), incentivizing Iran with resumption of diplomatic relations (26%), and incentivizing Iran by easing of economic sanctions (24%)
Republicans are most likely to favor threatening Iran with harsher economic sanctions (38%) or the use of military force (29%)
Democrats are most likely to favor incentivizing Iran with resumption of diplomatic relations (33%) or by easing economic sanctions (31%)
Net approval of Trump’s handling of Iran is -4, and net approval of his handling of Israel is -7
Anti-ICE protests
Americans are about equally likely to strongly or somewhat approve as to disapprove of recent protests in Los Angeles against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions (45% vs. 44%)
8% of Americans — including 17% of Democrats and 3% of Republicans — say they have attended a political rally or protest in their local area in 2025
78% think it should be legal for Americans to peacefully protest against ICE actions; 9% think it should be illegal
Only 24% think it should be legal for Americans to attempt to prevent ICE from doing its job; 52% think it should be illegal
More believe the anti-ICE protests in LA have been mostly non-violent than mostly violent (45% vs. 36%)
In a choice between the two, Americans are more likely to say they are concerned about protesters causing destruction or violence than about police using excessive force against protesters (52% vs. 40%)
More Americans strongly or somewhat disapprove (48%) than approve (41%) of a president sending National Guard troops to respond to a protest over objections of the state’s governor — something Trump did with the LA protests
By 60% to 25%, Americans say that state and local authorities rather than the federal government should take the lead in responding to recent LA protests
43% think the federal government has responded too aggressively to recent anti-ICE protests, while 25% think it has been about right and 17% think it hasn’t been aggressive enough. 76% of Democrats and 9% of Republicans say it has been too aggressive
By contrast, only 16% think the response from state and local authorities has been too aggressive, while 33% say it has been about right and 29% think it hasn’t been aggressive enough. 5% of Democrats and 55% of Republicans say it has not been aggressive enough
Net approval of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (-2) and LA Mayor Karen Bass’ (-6) response to the LA anit-ICE protests is higher than net approval of Trump’s response (-8) — though fewer approve than disapprove of the response of each of the three political figures
Kennedy and vaccines
More Americans strongly or somewhat disapprove (45%) than approve (37%) of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s handling of his job as Secretary of Health and Human Services
Net approval of Kennedy — meaning the share who approve minus the share who disapprove — has fallen since late May, to -8 from 0
Americans are more likely to disapprove than approve of Kennedy removing all 17 members of the advisory committee on immunization to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC (50% vs. 29%)
The vast majority of Democrats (83%) disapprove of the removal of CDC advisory committee members. Most Republicans are on the other side, but with a smaller margin: 55% approve and 21% disapprove
More Americans say that Kennedy rejects the science on vaccines than say he follows the science (44% vs. 27%); 29% say they aren’t sure
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,512 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3%.
Source : Economist/YouGov Poll
