The survey reveals a gap between what Republican voters say they wanted from Trump’s second term — lower prices, more jobs, reduced health care costs — and what they say they are experiencing. Broad partisan loyalty keeps overall job approval at about eight in ten among Republicans even as personal economic assessments lag the country-level optimism Trump’s base otherwise expresses.

Nearly a year into President Donald Trump’s second term, Republican voters express strong support for his immigration enforcement but say his economic performance — particularly on the cost of living — has fallen well short of expectations, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Thursday.

The survey, conducted Jan. 8–11 among 1,203 adults nationwide, found that only 16% of Republicans say Trump has helped “a lot” in addressing the cost of living during his current term. In an April 2024 AP-NORC poll, 49% of Republicans said the same about his first-term record on the same question.

On immigration, about eight in ten Republicans say Trump has helped “at least a little” on immigration and border security — a level roughly comparable to their assessment of his first-term performance on the issue.

Economy falls short of first-term marks

Republicans’ assessments of Trump’s economic performance across multiple categories trail their recollections of his first term by wide margins.

Approximately four in ten Republicans say Trump has helped address the cost of living “at least a little” during his second term, compared with 79% who said the same about his first term in the 2024 poll. Consumer inflation expectations registered 4.2% for the year ahead in January 2026, according to the University of Michigan’s survey tracked by the Federal Reserve — a level consistent with the persistent price concerns Republican respondents described.

On job creation, just over half of Republicans say Trump has helped in his current term, versus 85% who said so about his first term. Only 26% say he has helped “a lot” on jobs, down from 62% in the earlier survey.

Health care costs show a similar gap. About one-third of Republicans say Trump has helped address those costs “at least a little” in his second term, compared with 53% in the April 2024 poll. Federal subsidies covering more than 20 million Americans’ health insurance expired Jan. 1, 2026; the Associated Press reported that premiums doubled or tripled for many affected families.

John Candela, 64, a Republican from New Rochelle, New York, said his family’s finances have not changed under the new administration. “Still paying $5 for Oreos,” he said. He added that his disapproval of Trump’s style does not translate to disapproval of his agenda: “What I approve of is what he is doing to try and get the country on track.”

Ryan James Hughes, 28, a children’s pastor from Waxahachie, Texas, and a three-time Trump voter, said medical bills in his household have not declined but described a broader posture toward government’s economic role. “I’m not looking to the government to secure my financial future,” he said.

Immigration holds as base’s strongest point of satisfaction

Immigration remains the area where Trump draws the most consistent approval from Republican voters, even as his overall marks on the issue have slipped and national opposition runs high.

About eight in ten Republicans say Trump has helped “at least a little” on immigration and border security in his second term, a level roughly matching what they said about his first-term performance in 2024. Most Republicans say Trump has struck the right balance on deportations, while about one-third say he has not gone far enough.

Trump’s immigration approval among Republicans has nonetheless declined since earlier in his term, falling from 88% in March 2025 to 76% in the January survey. Nationally, 38% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s leadership on immigration, while 61% disapprove.

Some Republican respondents expressed concern about enforcement tactics even while backing the broader effort. Kevin Kellenbarger, 69, a three-time Trump voter and retired printing-company worker from Lancaster, Ohio, said he views stepped-up deportation operations as necessary. But he said the killing of Renee Good by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis troubled him. “I don’t like anybody getting killed, but it wasn’t Trump’s fault,” he said.

Several Republicans in interviews said they thought the most aggressive enforcement scenes had gone too far and that the administration should focus more on immigrants with criminal backgrounds, as Trump had pledged during the campaign.

Liz Gonzalez, 40, a self-employed rancher and farmer from Palestine, Texas, and the daughter of Mexican immigrants, said she holds conflicting views. “These families that are being separated and they’re just here to try to live the American dream,” she said. She also argued that opposition to the operations was worsening conditions. “I think if they just let (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), you know, like the patrol people, do their jobs, then they would see it’s not — it doesn’t have to be chaos,” she said.

Republican loyalty holds even as personal assessments lag

Despite dissatisfaction on specific economic measures, there is little sign of Republican voters withdrawing broader support from the president. About eight in ten Republicans approve of Trump’s overall job performance, compared with about four in ten adults overall.

Republicans also show a notable divergence between their assessments of the country and of their own households. About two-thirds say the country as a whole is “much” or “somewhat” better off since Trump took office. Only about half say the same about themselves and their families.

Phyllis Gilpin, 62, a Republican from Booneville, Missouri, praised Trump’s attentiveness to voters while expressing frustration with his conduct. “He is very arrogant,” she said of his personal style. She said partisan friction extends beyond any one figure. “I really, honestly, just wish that we could all just not be Democrat or Republican — just come together,” she said.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,203 adults was conducted Jan. 8–11, 2026, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. The poll included interviews with 404 Republicans; the margin of sampling error for Republicans is plus or minus 6 percentage points.