Rural support for President Donald Trump has taken an unprecedented downturn, falling below zero for the first time since early 2025. A recent survey points to mounting economic pressures and policy frustrations that are testing one of his most reliable bases.
Rural Approval Rating Falls Below Zero
President Donald Trump’s approval rating among rural Americans has slipped into negative territory for the first time since early 2025 in a national polling series.
A Fox News poll released this week shows Trump’s standing across rural America has sharply deteriorated in the network’s polling trend. His net approval among rural voters has swung 34 points since early 2025, falling from +20 to -14. Among rural white voters, the drop is nearly as steep—a 33-point slide from +27 to -6.
Key Findings from the Poll
- The latest Fox News poll shows declining support across core voter groups, including Trump’s Republican base.
- Overall, just 29 percent of voters approved of Trump’s handling of the economy, while 71 percent disapproved, according to the survey, with just 30 percent of rural Americans approving and 70 percent disapproving.
- Farm bankruptcies surged 46 percent in 2025, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
- Rising fertilizer and fuel costs linked to the war in Iran and global energy disruptions are squeezing farmers.
- Controversy over Chinese farmland ownership has intensified frustration in rural communities.
Rural voters have long formed the backbone of Republican electoral strength, making any erosion in this bloc politically consequential ahead of this year’s midterm elections. The poll, conducted May 15–18 among 1,002 registered voters nationwide, carries a margin of error of ±3 percentage points. It was run by Beacon Research (Democratic-aligned) and Shaw & Company Research (Republican-aligned), using live telephone interviews and online surveys.
Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who co-conducts the survey with Democrat Chris Anderson, noted growing cracks even within the GOP faithful. “Despite consistently strong GOP support, the president’s numbers are leaking a bit,” Shaw said. “Make no mistake; it’s all about affordability. Independents jumped ship in 2025, and now non-MAGA Republicans and other core constituencies are wavering.”
Economic Strain on the Ground
At the heart of the shift are deepening financial challenges for farmers and rural communities. Farm bankruptcies jumped 46 percent in 2025 compared with the previous year, data from the American Farm Bureau Federation show. In 2026, fertilizer and diesel costs have surged, in part driven by the conflict in Iran and wider energy market disruptions.
“We’re not financially able to operate as normal,” Louisiana farmer Willis Nelson told MS Now, explaining that his family has had to cut back on fertilizer because “we just don’t have the margin.” “It’s tough, you know, very tough on us,” he added, as his multigenerational farm faces the prospect of bankruptcy.
Ohio grower Fred Yoder, in comments shared by Farm Action from an interview with US Farm Report, described input costs that echo the hardships of past decades. “It’s costing us about $1,500 of cash per day to run two tractors,” he said. “I spent many years buying potash for $90 a ton, and now it’s $670 to $700 a ton. Our big problem is the input costs. I haven’t seen anything this bad since the 1980s.”
Trade tensions have compounded these pressures, with reduced Chinese demand weighing on export prices. Against this backdrop, Trump’s recent defense of Chinese purchases of U.S. farmland during his Beijing trip has stoked further unease among producers already wary of foreign ownership.
White House spokesman Kush Desai dismissed the poll as a short-term snapshot, arguing that the U.S. economy remains “resilient” under Trump and that “as this agenda continues taking effect, and as Congress passes more of the president’s healthcare and housing affordability agenda, the best is yet to come in the second Trump term.”
Another spokesman, Davis Ingle, pointed to Trump’s 2024 election victory as the definitive measure of support: “The ultimate poll was November 5th 2024 when nearly 80 million Americans overwhelmingly elected President Trump to deliver on his popular and commonsense agenda,” he said, adding that efforts to “create jobs, cool inflation, increase housing affordability, and more” are “just the beginning” of the administration’s work.
