President Donald Trump’s grip on young men is slipping—and fast.
Once a natural draw for this crucial voting bloc that helped fuel his 2024 victory, the president is now facing growing distrust and frustration, according to a new poll from the Speaking with American Men project shared with Puck.
The survey paints a damning picture: Trump’s favorability among young men has fallen to 46 percent, down from 56 percent last spring. Among all young people, it dips to a dismal 36 percent.
Pollster John Della Volpe, who surveyed 4,211 people ages 16 to 29 from October 28 to November 6 last year, traces much of the slide to economic disappointment—trade shocks, tariffs, and rising costs that failed to ease the financial strain young Americans were counting on him to address.
“The big picture is that Trump was getting the benefit of the doubt in the first 100 days of his term,” Della Volpe told Puck. “Now, they are reflecting on those policies several months later and seeing no significant improvement. And they’re saying that their situation is no better. In many cases, it’s worse.”
After the 2024 election, much was made of Trump’s appeal among young men, who largely backed him, hoping he would lower costs and expand economic access. But Speaking with American Men’s survey shows that this cohort now feels largely abandoned.
“Young men of all races and classes shifted to Trump, hoping that would bring down costs and help them access an economy that felt out of reach,” Della Volpe explained to Puck.
Economic frustration isn’t the whole picture. The poll also shows that Trump’s foreign policy decisions are making younger voters uneasy, particularly regarding unnecessary conflicts. The high-profile capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, along with threats against Cuba, Colombia, and even Greenland, has only heightened their skepticism.
Avoiding unnecessary wars is a top concern for young men: 78% said it matters, and 68% said they’d be more likely to support candidates who steer clear of conflict.
Adam Pennings, executive director of the Republican-affiliated group Run GenZ, told The Hill that young people are frustrated by Trump’s focus on foreign policy.
“Why are we not focusing on the people in Pennsylvania? Why are we not focusing on the people in Ohio or California? Why are we even looking at Venezuela?” he said.
Puck reporter Peter Hamby noted that the administration has tried to frame the Maduro operation as a law-enforcement matter rather than a military action.
“But when your administration forcibly extracts a foreign leader from a heavily fortified compound, killing dozens of people in the process, that might seem like a semantic difference,” Hamby wrote.
The poll also underscores continued disappointment with Trump’s domestic performance. Only 27 percent of young men said Trump is “delivering for people like you,” while 40 percent said he “talked big, but let people like me down.” Just 22 percent said he is “fighting” for people like them, and 47 percent said Trump “creates chaos and makes things worse.”
The survey included 16- and 17-year-olds, many of whom will vote in 2026 and 2028. Among young men in the poll, former President Barack Obama had the highest favorability rating at 56 percent, followed by YouTuber MrBeast (55 percent) and podcaster Joe Rogan (53 percent). Only Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (44 percent) comes close to Trump’s 46 percent favorability. Other MAGA figures fared poorly: Vice President JD Vance scored 33 percent, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem landed at 17 percent.
Trump’s White House team pushed back on the survey. Spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Daily Beast, “President Trump was overwhelmingly elected by nearly 80 million Americans to deliver on his popular and commonsense agenda. The President has already made historic progress not only in America but around the world. It is not surprising that President Trump remains the most dominant figure in American politics.”
Even with that defense, the survey paints a troubling picture for Republicans. The shift reflected in this poll—and others—shows the potential for volatility, especially if Democrats can capitalize on growing economic and foreign policy dissatisfaction in 2026 and 2028.
Democrats are already seeing signs of momentum with young voters. In 2025, the party scored a big win in New York City’s mayoral race, with progressive Zohran Mamdani getting elected. They also won two high-profile gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, signaling that disillusioned youth may once again be leaning blue.
Taken together with the Speaking with American Men poll, the data suggest Trump’s hold on young men is eroding rapidly, and the 2026 midterms could offer the first clear test of just how much his appeal has faded with the next generation of voters.
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos
