Most say Trump policies haven't helped them: Survey

Most Americans say President Trump’s policies in his second term so far have not improved their lives, according to an AP-NORC survey.

In the poll, conducted this past weekend, 49 percent of respondents said Trump’s policies have done more to hurt them, while 22 percent said the policies have not made much of a difference in their lives.

Just 27 percent of Americans said Trump’s policies have done more to help them.

There is a drastic partisan split in the way the public perceived the effects of Trump’s policies.

A majority of independents — 53 percent — said the policies have done more to hurt them than help them, while 22 percent said the policies have made no difference in their lives, and 20 percent said the policies have done more to help.

Most Republicans surveyed, at 55 percent, said the policies have done more to help them, but 30 percent said the policies have not had a material impact on their lives, while 15 percent said the policies have done more to hurt them.

The vast majority of Democratic respondents said the policies have negatively affected them, with only 14 percent seeing no difference and 4 percent saying the policies have helped them.

Trump’s approval rating is less than 50 percent on every issue included in the AP-NORC survey, with roughly 40 percent approving of Trump’s performance on the economy and 43 percent approving of his handling of immigration.

While Trump’s performance on the economy has been stable in recent months, his handling of immigration has declined from 49 percent in March.

Americans in the survey largely said they see Trump as effective — with roughly 60 percent saying he’s either extremely or somewhat “capable of getting things done.” But only 42 percent said Trump extremely or somewhat “understands the problems facing people like you.”

The survey polled 1,437 adults and was conducted July 10-14. The margin of error is 3.6 percentage points.