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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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President Donald Trump is losing the support of suburban Americans, polling reveals.
According to polling by Quantus Insights, the proportion of people from the suburbs who approve of the president has declined from -3 percentage points in September to -16 points in December.
Newsweek reached out to the White House by email to comment on this story.
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Why It Matters
Maintaining a strong approval rating among all groups, including suburban voters, will be important for Trump as the GOP approaches the November 2026 midterms and seeks to protect its slim majority in the House of Representatives and Senate.
While he is not on the ballot, these elections are seen as a way for voters to cast their judgment on how well Trump and the administration is doing and so his polling can have huge ramifications on the Republican Party.
What To Know
According to the polling, in September, 47 percent of suburban Americans approved of Trump and 50 percent disapproved of him, leaving him with a net approval rating of -3 percentage points.
In November, this declined further and 43 percent approved of him and 55 percent disapproved. This left him with a net approval rating of -12 points.
In December, Trump's net approval rating among suburban Americans fell again to -16 points. 41 percent said they approved of him and 57 percent disapproved.
Speaking to Newsweek, Heath Brown, associate professor of public policy at City University of New York suggested the declining approval ratings were caused by the state of the economy.
"Like all Americans, those living in the suburbs care about rising prices, quality schools, safe drinking water, and affordable health care," Brown said. "Elected officials who focus on addressing those issues will likely draw support. Those who are unable or unwilling to confront those issues, are likely to see their standing sink."
The economy is a key concern for American voters, with a Gallup poll showing that they overwhelmingly cited economic pressures as the main reason they voted for Trump in the 2024 presidential election. On the campaign trail, the president pledged to bring down inflation.
Thomas Whalen, an associate professor who teaches U.S. politics at Boston University agreed with Brown.
"The easiest answer is improving the economy," he told Newsweek. "[Trump's] reckless tariff program in combination with his unwise cuts in social welfare programs among others have left many Americans scrambling to make ends meet, especially in increasingly expensive suburbs. Meanwhile, he seems more interested in holding Great Gatsby parties at the White House and obsessing over winning a Nobel Peace Prize than focusing on the bleak jobs picture. Indeed, a 'let them eat cake' approach didn’t work so well for Marie Antoinette back in the day and it’s not any better for the president right now."
The bad news from the suburbs comes amid other negative polling regarding the president. According to December I&I/TIPP polling, Trump's overall net approval rating is -3 percentage points, with 44 percent of respondents approving and 47 percent disapproving.
While negative, this marks an improvement from last month when, with 41 percent approving and 49 percent disapproving, Trump had a net approval rating of -8 percentage points.
A recent poll by The Economist/YouGov found Trump's approval rating at its lowest level since he returned to office in January: 39 percent of people approved of the job he was doing, while 58 percent disapproved—a net approval rating of -19 percentage points.
Meanwhile, Morning Consult found in December that Trump's net approval rating was above water in 22 states, a slight improvement from a similar point in his first term, when his net approval rating was net positive in 21 states.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump wrote 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!'"
White House spokesman Kush Desai previously told Newsweek: "President Trump inherited the worst inflation crisis in a generation from Joe Biden’s incompetence, and his Administration has rapidly cooled inflation to a 2.5 percent annualized rate."
"As the Administration’s supply-side policies of tax cuts, deregulation, and energy abundance continue taking effect, Americans can count on inflation continuing to fall and real wages continuing to rise," Desai added.
What Happens Next
As his presidency continues, Trump's popularity will likely fluctuate in all areas including the suburbs.
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