President Donald Trump appears to be holding strong support among MAGA-aligned Republicans on most major issues, but a new national poll suggests one pocketbook concern stands out as a notable exception: household health care costs.
Why It Matters
The Angus Reid Institute found that Republicans who identify with the MAGA movement broadly approved of Trump’s first-year agenda after returning to office. However, that group did not deliver a clearly positive assessment of how Trump’s first year has affected their own household health care costs—setting health care apart from other areas where they remained strongly supportive.
Meanwhile, Republicans who do not identify as MAGA were far more negative on bread-and-butter issues. In net-score terms, they rated the cost of living at minus 30 and health care at minus 20 when asked whether they felt pleased or upset about changes during Trump’s first year. That divergence suggests potential vulnerabilities for Republicans beyond the MAGA wing as the country looks toward November’s midterms.
What To Know
A new Angus Reid Institute survey of 1,838 U.S. adults indicates that MAGA identifiers backed Trump across most major issues during his first year back in office, but they were split on whether household health care costs had improved—an unusual soft spot as midterm dynamics begin to take shape.
The online poll was conducted January 16–20, 2026, and underscored a widening gap between MAGA and non-MAGA Republicans. MAGA respondents expressed broad approval of Trump and his use of executive power. Non-MAGA Republicans, by contrast, reported sharp dissatisfaction on the cost of living and health care—signaling that day-to-day financial pressures could influence turnout and persuasion heading into the midterms.
Key Findings From the Survey
Overall job approval: The institute reported that 37 percent of Americans approved of Trump’s first year of his current term, while 56 percent disapproved.
Partisan splits: Approval was 93 percent among MAGA Republicans and 69 percent among non-MAGA Republicans, compared with 6 percent among Democrats and 18 percent among independents or others.
Issue ratings: Of 17 issues tested, only reducing illegal immigration at the southern border and the performance of the stock market received more positive than negative reactions among Americans overall.
Most criticized issues: The poll recorded especially negative reactions to discussions of annexing Greenland, handling of the cost of living, handling of health care, and the Epstein files.
Executive power divide inside the GOP: MAGA Republicans strongly approved of Trump bypassing Congress, while non-MAGA Republicans were substantially less supportive.
Top priorities: Cost of living and inflation ranked as the leading national issue for 53 percent of respondents, 20 points ahead of health care at 33 percent.
Methodology Notes
The survey sample was weighted to reflect the national adult population by region, gender, age, household income, and education, using U.S. census benchmarks.
For comparison purposes only, the institute noted that a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Discrepancies in totals are due to rounding. The survey was self-commissioned and paid for by the Angus Reid Institute.
What People Are Saying
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a previous emailed statement: “President Trump took office with a resounding mandate from the nearly 80 million Americans who voted for him to secure our border, end Joe Biden’s inflation crisis, remove criminal illegal aliens from our streets, and restore American Greatness both at home and abroad.
“He has firmly cemented his legacy as the Peace President, having ended eight wars and counting and saving millions of lives. He is delivering on his promises, and the American people remain firmly aligned with the President’s agenda to Make America Great Again, regardless of the Mainstream Media’s so-called polling.”
Trump wrote in a recent Truth Social post: “Fake and Fraudulent Polling should be, virtually, a criminal offense. As an example, all of the Anti Trump Media that covered me during the 2020 Election showed Polls that were knowingly wrong.”
He added: “There are great Pollsters that called the Election right, but the Media does not want to use them in any way, shape, or form. Isn’t it sad what has happened to American Journalism, but I am going to do everything possible to keep this Polling SCAM from moving forward!”
What Happens Next
The results suggest that health care costs—along with the broader cost-of-living squeeze—could become fault lines for Republican unity as midterm campaigns accelerate, especially among non-MAGA Republicans who delivered sharply negative ratings on both issues.
