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WASHINGTON – Voters are increasingly unhappy with how President Donald Trump is handling the economy, a shift with potential consequences for the upcoming mid-term elections, according to a new Wall Street Journal poll.

More voters rate the economy as weak rather than strong, by 15 percentage points, “a deterioration from July, when negative views predominated by 4 points,” the Journal said in a poll released the night of Jan. 16.

It said about half of voters say the economy has gotten worse in the past year, compared with 35% who see improvement.

“Those are among the warning signs for the president and the Republican Party” the Journal reported, saying the poll finds that voters think Trump is focusing on foreign affairs and other matters “at the expense of their most pressing concerns − rising prices and the overall economy.”

Support for Trump among his most loyal supporters has remained stable though, with 92% of people who voted for him in 2024 giving Trump him a positive job rating today, including 70% who “strongly approve,” the Journal poll found.

Still, the poll shows that Trump and the GOP are more politically vulnerable in the run-up to the House and Senate mid-elections later this year. It said 45% of voters approve of the president’s job performance, but that 54% disapprove. That’s a 9-point gap, compared with 6 points in the last Journal survey, in July, according to the Journal.