A new report from Pew Research found white Christians, who played a key role in returning Donald Trump to the White House, are losing confidence in President Trump’s policies.
Just over half (58 percent) of white evangelicals said they support most or all of Trump’s policies, down from 66 percent when he took office in 2025.
Similar declines were seen among white Catholics, who dropped from 51 percent last year to 46 percent this year, and white Protestants who are not evangelical, who dropped from 46 percent to 33 percent, according to the report, released Feb. 9.
Based on a survey of 8,512 Americans conducted Jan. 20-26, the report also found white Christians are less confident Trump acts ethically in office than they were a year ago.
Less than half (40 percent) of white evangelicals have confidence Trump acts ethically, down from 55 percent in 2025. White Catholic confidence in Trump’s ethics dropped from 39 percent to 34 percent, while white nonevangelical Protestants’ confidence dropped from 38 percent to 26 percent.
White Christians in all three groups are still more likely to support Trump’s policies than Americans overall (27 percent). They also have more confidence in his ethics than Americans overall (21 percent).
Hispanic Catholics (18 percent), the religiously unaffiliated (13 percent), and Black Protestants (6 percent) were least likely to support Trump’s policies. Those groups were also least likely to have confidence in Trump’s ethics.
Because of their presence in swing states, white Catholics and white non-evangelical Protestants played a key role in the 2024 presidential election. More than half (58 percent) of white nonevangelical Protestants voted for Trump, as did 62 percent of white Catholics and 81 percent of white evangelicals, according to Pew Research data.
Pew’s most recent report found white Christians remain strong supporters of Trump, though support has declined. Sixty-nine percent of white evangelicals said they approve of how Trump is handling his job, down from 78 percent last year.
Sign up for our weekly edition and get all our headlines in your inbox on Thursdays
Just over half (52 percent) of white Catholics approve of Trump’s job performance, down from 59 percent last year, while 46 percent of nonevangelical white Protestants approved, down from 57 percent. The unaffiliated (24 percent), Hispanic Catholics (23 percent), and Black Protestants (12 percent) are least likely to approve of Trump’s job performance.
Overall, 37 percent of Americans approve of how Trump is handling his job.
The difference among faith groups reflects the partisan divide among American Christians, with white Protestants and white Catholics more likely to side with the GOP, while Christians of color, the unaffiliated, and people of other faiths are more likely to side with Democrats.
We seek to connect God’s story and God’s people around the world. To learn more about God’s story, click here.
Send comments and feedback to Eric Black, our editor. For comments to be published, please specify “letter to the editor.” Maximum length for publication is 300 words.