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By Andrew Stanton
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President Donald Trump’s support from young men has declined since his victory in last November’s presidential election, according to two recent polls.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Trump made inroads with young men during the 2024 presidential election, helping to bolster his bid to return to the White House. He won men ages 18 to 29, a demographic he had lost four years earlier in his race against former President Joe Biden. But Trump’s overall approval rating has dipped since his return to office amid growing concerns about the economy.
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Republicans are closely watching Trump’s approval rating ahead of the 2026 midterms, when every House seat and a third of Senate seats are up for election. If Trump loses ground among groups in which he built support last year, it could cost the GOP next November; but if other Republicans can hold onto that support, it could help them in key races.
What To Know
Trump won men 18-29 by a single point over former Vice President Kamala Harris (49 to 48 percent) in 2024, according to CNN’s exit polls. In 2020, he lost that group to Biden by 11 points (52 percent to 41 percent). He also won men 30-44 by seven points (52 percent) in 2024 after winning them by a single point (49 percent to 48 percent) in 2020.
That marked notable overperformance among a generation once viewed as more progressive than older voters. But two recent surveys suggest younger men have shifted away from Trump.
The Harvard Youth Poll released earlier in December found that a majority of Gen Z men are unhappy with the administration: 62 percent disapprove of Trump’s job performance, while 32 percent approve of his time in office.
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That doesn’t mean they’re particularly happy with Democrats either; just 24 percent approve of congressional Democrats, while 71 percent disapprove. Only a slim plurality—36 percent—said they want to see Democrats control Congress next year, while 28 percent said they prefer to see Republican control.
That poll surveyed 2,040 individuals between the ages of 18 and 29 from November 3-7, 2025, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.94 percentage points.
A Harvard Youth Poll from Spring 2025 found that Trump's approval rating among young men was slightly higher. In that survey, 59 percent disapproved of him, and 34 percent approved.
Trump was able to make inroads with young men by maximizing his reach through “popular podcasts and livestream programming consumed predominantly by eligible Gen Z male voters,” Mark Beal, professor of communication at Rutgers University, who is an expert in Gen Z, told Newsweek on Tuesday.
“These long-form unscripted content channels hosted by popular hosts including Theo Von and Joe Rogan effectively engaged Gen Z male votes, many voting for the first time in 2024. Gen Z does not consume traditional network and cable television media outlets, but they do consume a significant amount of content and information,” he said.
Both Trump and Democrats will need to “go where young voters consume content,” such as these podcasts and livestreams, to win their support, he said.
They’ll also need to focus on key issues of importance to young men, he said.
“Prominent election issues related to the economy, inflation, healthcare, prescriptions, insurance, mortgage rates and even social security will become more important to the senior members of Gen Z as the advance in their careers, start families and purchase homes,” he said. “These will be the issues that both parties will need to prioritize if they want to capture the increasingly important Gen Z vote in 2026 and beyond.”
The University of Chicago’s GenForward survey showed similar results. Thirty-four percent of men who responded to that survey said they approve of Trump, compared to 55 percent who disapproved of his performance.
That poll surveyed 5,390 adults ages 18-42 between October 24 and November 10, 2025.
What People Are Saying
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on X in October: "Trump returns to TikTok, tells Gen Z they ‘owe me big’ for saving it."
President Donald Trump said on Truth Social in November: "So many Fake Polls are being shown by the Radical Left Media, all slanted heavily toward Democrats and Far Left Wingers…Fake News will never change, they are evil and corrupt but, as I look around my beautiful surroundings, I say to myself, 'Oh, look, I’m sitting in the Oval Office!'"
Conservative activist Brilyn Hollyhand wrote in a December 24 post on X: “We CAN win the midterms but we can’t act like we’re entitled to Gen Z’s vote like the Dems did, we have to earn it. - Trump should speak on campuses - Target low propensity students at trade schools/community colleges in swing districts - Add polling sites on ALL campuses.”
What Happens Next
Trump’s approval rating will loom over the midterms and could have implications for the direction of the future of the Republican Party.
Update 12/30/25 4:20 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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