President Donald Trump has suffered a staggering collapse in support among America's youngest voters, with a new poll revealing his net approval rating with Generation Z has nosedived by 42 percentage points in under a year.
A Dramatic Swing Away From The President
The alarming shift was highlighted by CNN's Chief Data Analyst, Harry Enten, on Wednesday 14 January 2026. The data shows Trump's net approval with Gen Z—those born between 1997 and 2012—now stands at a dismal negative 32 percentage points. This represents a catastrophic fall from a net positive rating of plus-10 points in February 2025, shortly after the start of his second term in office.
"My goodness gracious. This is, I said, a very swinging group and it has swung very much away from Donald John Trump," Enten stated, adding that the President was "falling off that cliff" with this demographic.
The findings are particularly striking given Trump's relative success with younger voters in the 2024 election. According to the Pew Research Center, he secured 42 percent of the vote among Americans born from the 1990s to the 2000s. While this was still 13 points behind his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, it marked a significant improvement on his previous performances: 35% in 2020 against Joe Biden and just 25% in 2016 against Hillary Clinton.
Economic Discontent Fuelling The Fall
A central issue driving the disapproval appears to be widespread anxiety over the cost of living, a concern shared by Gen Z and the broader American public. Despite Trump's campaign focus on the economy in 2024, his handling of the issue is now a major liability.
An AP-NORC poll from December 2025 found that 67 percent of U.S. adults disapprove of Trump's management of the economy, with only 31 percent approving. This gap has widened since March 2025, when disapproval stood at 58%.
This polling contradicts the President's own bullish assessment. Just a day before the Gen Z figures emerged, Trump addressed the Detroit Economic Club, boasting that the U.S. had experienced "the strongest and fastest economic turnaround in our country's history."
However, the reality for many voters feels different. Official data shows inflation held steady at 2.7 percent in December, yet grocery prices remain persistently high. Furthermore, the Associated Press reported that home sales in 2025 hit a 30-year low, stifled by elevated property prices and mortgage rates.
What This Means For The Political Landscape
The precipitous drop in support from a large, increasingly influential voting bloc presents a serious challenge for the Trump administration. Gen Z's rapid disillusionment, closely tied to economic pressures, suggests that the President's narrative of a booming economy is failing to resonate with everyday financial experiences.
The scale of the decline—42 points in a single year—indicates a volatile electorate that can quickly withdraw its support. This erosion among younger voters could have profound implications for the political landscape as the nation moves deeper into Trump's second term.
