This Spotlight Analysis examines trends in President Donald Trump’s favorability ratings through the lenses of party, religious affiliation, Christian nationalism, and right-wing authoritarianism using PRRI data collected during Trump’s first year of his second term in office.
Throughout 2025, 39% of Americans held a favorable view of Donald Trump, while nearly six in ten viewed him unfavorably (57%). His favorability has remained largely stable since September 2024 (41% favorable, 56% unfavorable), following a period in which ratings hovered in the mid-30s (October 2018 – June 2024). Notably, Trump’s favorability ratings in 2025 remained above his lowest rating recorded by PRRI (October 2015), when only 30% of Americans held a favorable view.
Views of Trump by Party Affiliation
The vast majority of Republicans (84%) held favorable views of Trump throughout 2025, with favorability growing since 2022. Among independents, Trump’s favorability stood at 32% in 2025. These views have fluctuated over the past decade, ranging from a low of 28% to a high of 38% in 2017. In the lead-up to the 2024 election, Trump’s favorability among independents rose from 27% in March 2024 to 37% in September 2024 before declining to 30% by September 2025. By contrast, Trump’s favorability among Democrats remained significantly lower through his first year in office and lower than most levels recorded prior to 2019.
Trump Favorability by Religious Affiliation
In 2025, white Christian groups were more likely than Christians of color and non-Christians to view Trump favorably, with their favorability growing over the last year. In September 2025, most white evangelical Protestants (72%), white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (55%), and white Catholics (54%) viewed Trump favorably. Since the beginning of 2024, Trump’s favorability has risen by around 10 points within each of these groups (up from 63%, 42%, and 43%, respectively). In comparison, around one in four Christians of color and religiously unaffiliated Americans viewed Trump favorably.
Click through the chart below (selecting white Christian, Christian of color, or non-Christian) to explore Trump’s favorability among different religious groups.
Hispanic Catholics’ favorability towards Trump grew steadily from 12% in 2015 to a high of 37% in September 2024, before receding to 25% by September 2025. Hispanic Protestants historically view Trump more favorably than their Catholic counterparts; after a sharp drop from an all-time high of 51% in September 2024 to 32% in March 2025, their favorability rebounded to 48% in September 2025.[1]
Donald Trump’s favorability among Black Protestants has remained low and relatively stable since 2015, standing at 19% in September 2025.
Trump’s favorability among religiously unaffiliated Americans has fluctuated over the past decade, from a low of 17% in September 2016 to a high of 31% in October 2017. Between 2023 and 2025, favorable views of Trump stabilized, hovering around 25%. Trump’s favorability among non-Christian Americans has mirrored similar trends, rising from 16% in 2015 to 25% in September 2025.
Trump Favorability and the Frequency of Religious Practices
In 2025, half of Americans who attend religious services at least once a week (52%) viewed President Trump favorably, compared with 43% of those who attend religious services a few times a year or more and one-third of those who seldom or never attend (33%). This pattern of higher Trump favorability among church attenders is mirrored among those who read religious texts and pray weekly or more. Half of Americans who read religious texts once a week or more (51%) viewed Trump favorably, compared with 45% of those who read religious texts a few times a year or more, and one-third of those who seldom or never read religious texts (34%). About half of Americans who pray at least once a week held favorable views of Trump (48%), compared with 41% of those who pray a few times a year, and 27% of those who seldom or never pray.
This trend is even more pronounced among white Christians. In 2025, two-thirds of white Christians who attend church weekly (66%) favored Trump, compared with 60% of those who attend a few times a year or more, and 53% of those who seldom or never attend. The same pattern holds regarding white Christians’ frequency of prayer and scripture reading.
However, there are differences between white Christian groups. Trump’s favorability was highest among white evangelical Protestants who read the Bible (78%), attend church (77%), or pray (75%) weekly, and lower among those who seldom or never read the Bible (64%), attend church (64%), or pray (57%). A similar pattern emerges among white Catholics, with those who read the Bible (65%), attend church (61%), and pray (61%) weekly holding more favorable views of Trump than white Catholics who seldom or never read the Bible (50%), attend church (48%), or pray (43%).
Frequency of church attendance or Bible reading does not significantly shift favorability views among white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants. However, in 2025, white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants who pray weekly were 10 points more likely than those who seldom or never pray to hold favorable views of Trump (55% v. 45%, respectively).
While overall Trump favorability was much lower among Christians of color, frequent religious practice still correlates with slightly more favorable views. Roughly three in ten Christians of color who frequently attend religious services, pray, or read the Bible viewed Trump favorably, compared with about one-quarter of those who seldom or never attend religious services, pray, or read the Bible. Among Christians of color, the only significant differences are seen among Hispanic Protestants and Hispanic Catholics who attended religious services. Hispanic Protestants who attended church weekly or more (52%) were notably more likely to favor Trump than those who seldom or never attended (35%). While Trump favorability was low among Hispanic Catholics in 2025, those who attend church services frequently (34%) were more likely than those who seldom or never attend (20%) to favor Trump. There were no differences based on the frequency of prayer or reading religious texts.
Christian Nationalism and Right-Wing Authoritarianism
In 2025, Americans who qualify as Christian nationalism Adherents and Sympathizers were the most likely to support Trump (73% and 64%, respectively). In contrast, 39% of Christian nationalism Skeptics, and just 10% of Christian nationalism Rejecters, hold favorable views of Trump. There is also a positive relationship between the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (RWAS) and views of President Trump, with Americans who score very high (65%) or high (62%) on the RWAS being more likely to hold favorable views of Trump than those who score low (27%) or very low (8%).[2]
[1] The number of cases for Hispanic Protestants for 2015-2017, 2021-2022, and Aug. 2023 are too small to report.
[2] For more information on our Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (RWAS), see PRRI’s report: “One Leader Under God: The Connection Between Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism in America” and Spotlight: “Inside the Authoritarian-Christian Nationalism Link: Exploring Key Drivers.”
