F&M Stories
F&M Poll: Trump Approval Rating Drops 10 Points
Angst over cost of living, international affairs and an AI future has left President Donald Trump with a 29% job approval rating in Pennsylvania, a 10-point drop over more than three months, according to the latest Franklin & Marshall College Poll.
"It's a sizable decline since our March poll when his positive approval rating was 39%," says F&M Poll Director Berwood Yost.
Other findings:
- The administration’s positive rating for handling foreign policy matters has declined from 42% to 29%.
- The president’s largest declines come in his administration’s handling of inflation, falling from 31% positive in October to 17% today.
- Thirty-five percent of voters say the economy, including unemployment, housing, real estate costs and higher gas and utility prices, is the most important problem facing the state. The economy is the top concern of every partisan group.
Other issues:
- There is widespread support (89%) for limiting access to cell phones in schools.
- Seven in ten (70%) registered voters support having an independent redistricting commission draw state legislative districts. Most (59%) voters say they oppose the mid-decade redistricting that is currently taking place in some states.
- Seven in ten (72%) registered voters favor a state law that makes it illegal to discriminate in employment or housing based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Voters have consistently favored such a law since the question was first asked in 2014.
Conducted between June 8-14 by the Center for Opinion Research, the poll recorded responses from 546 registered Pennsylvania voters including 233 Democrats, 226 Republicans and 87 independents. The sample error is plus or minus 5.1 percentage points.
Join us at 6:30 p.m. EDT, Thursday, June 18, as Berwood Yost, director of the F&M
Center for Opinion Research, provides an expert analysis of the June 2026 F&M College
Poll in a live event moderated by F&M's Stephen Medvic, the Honorable and Mrs. John
C. Kunkel Professor of Government. You can stream the live event at fandm.to/june-poll-webinar.WEBINAR TONIGHT — A Midterm Forecast: Exploring What Matters to Pennsylvania Voters
Related Articles
June 8, 2026
Careers Beyond Borders: A Diplomat’s Path to International Relations
Julianna Marton ’25 always knew exactly where she was headed: around the world. After graduating from F&M, she followed this dream to Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). “I think if my first-year self could see me now, she would be very impressed and proud that I stayed on this path, and that I’ve only grown more passionate about it,” she said.
May 6, 2026
‘F&M Will Change How You See the World,’ Senior Says
For Anna Purchase ’26, Franklin & Marshall did more than provide an education. It shaped her worldview. “You get four years to try and enter in as a different person and rebuild the way you see the world,” she said. “F&M is going to change how you see the world, but you have a say in that.”
April 17, 2026
‘This is What Community Feels Like’
At the Writers House, Veronique Messanh ’26 found more than a job—she found a home. “I remember thinking: ‘This is what community feels like,’” she said. “I will forever be grateful for having a community that sees me, hears me, and encourages me!”