68% of Americans Say Trump Has the Wrong Priorities

Feb. 24, 2026

Poll after poll shows that an increasing number of Americans are concerned that President Trump is not paying enough attention to the country’s most important problems, a sober backdrop to his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

A CNN poll, released on Monday, finds that the percentage of Americans who say that the president is focused on the wrong things went up to almost 70 percent from 55 percent in February 2025. Large majorities of young voters, independents and nonwhite voters — key constituencies that helped re-elect Mr. Trump — say that the president is not focused on the country’s most important issues.

While 47 percent of Americans approve of Mr. Trump’s handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, only 40 percent approve of his other immigration policies, according to a poll conducted last week by ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos. That is a 10-percentage-point drop since he took office.

And only 34 percent of Americans approve of Mr. Trump’s handling of tariffs, even as he moves to find ways around the Supreme Court ruling on Friday that struck many of them down.

Voters are most discontent with his handling of inflation, with only 32 percent of Americans in favor of it. That percentage is in line with Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s approval numbers on inflation when he was president.

The Times will occasionally feature polling that illustrates how Americans are feeling about the issues of the day. The numbers come from high-quality polls with a record for accuracy and rigorous methods.

Ruth Igielnik is a Times polling editor who conducts polls and analyzes and reports on the results.

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