In his first year in office, President Trump’s approval rating among Indian Americans is lower than that of all Americans (his disapproval rating is high). File | Photo Credit: AP
A sizable majority of Indian Americans disapprove of the job performance of US President Donald Trump in his first year, according to the results of a new survey, “Indian Americans in Turbulent Times,” released by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Thursday (February 19, 2026). However, disapproval of Mr. Trump’s performance has not translated into gains for the Democratic Party, and while the Democratic Party has higher support among Indian Americans than the Republican Party, support from this group remains low.
Only 29% of Indian Americans approved of Trump’s performance, the same percentage as in 2020. The findings are based on the 2026 Indian American Attitudes Survey (IAAS), which surveyed the attitudes of 1,000 Indian American adults from November 25, 2025 to January 6, 2026. The error in the survey data is +/- 3.6%.
In terms of party affiliation, the Democratic Party’s support among Indian Americans has declined from 52% (2020) to 48% (2024) to 46% (2026). Support for the Republican Party increased from 15% to 19% from 2020 to 2024, but remained at 19% in 2026. More than a quarter, or 29%, of Indian Americans surveyed identified as independent, up from 23% in 2020 and 25% in 2024, suggesting that a decline in Democratic support is causing a rise in Republican support. Independent.
Trump’s approval rating among Indian Americans during his first year in office is lower than that of all Americans whose data was collected in a YouGov survey over the same period (higher disapproval rating).
Disapproval rate for President Trump’s policies
By policy area, the disapproval rate was 64% for immigration policy, 68% for domestic economic policy, and 70% for international economic policy (trade, tariffs, sanctions).
But across party lines, there are stark contrasts between Indian Americans who are Republicans and Indian Americans who are Democrats. A majority of Indian-American Republicans (76%) supported Trump’s immigration policies, and 62% supported his international economic policies. About 84% of Indian American Democrats disapprove of Trump’s immigration policies, and 86% disapprove of his international economic policies.
Indian Americans talking about immigration policy
Given the controversial nature of the government’s immigration policies and their impact on the Indian American community, the study examines five areas: arrests of undocumented immigrants with no criminal records, workplace raids, deportation of immigrants to third countries, actions to end birthright citizenship, and $100,000 in H-1B (skilled worker visa) fees for new petitions.
While sizable majorities of Democrats opposed all five categories of policies, Republicans overall had lower support for each of these than immigration policies overall, although a majority of Indian American Republicans still often supported these individual policies.
Indian Americans talk about U.S.-India relations
Only 20% of Indian Americans approve of Trump’s handling of relations with India, while 55% disapprove. Notably, a quarter of respondents answered “I don’t know” to this question, the authors said, suggesting that this issue is of limited importance to many Indian Americans. The approval rating for the handling of relations with India was 35% in 2020, at the end of the first Trump administration, and 48% in 2024, at the end of former US President Joe Biden’s administration.
According to the study, from 2024 to 2026, young Indian Americans (ages 18-29) returned to the Democratic Party. This is important given the growing support for Trump among young Americans in the November 2024 election. People over 50 lean Republican. Support for the Democratic Party declined significantly among people without a college degree, while support among those with a college degree remained stable. Indian Americans with incomes above $100,000 moved to the Democratic Party.
Looking at Indian-American religious groups as a whole, Hindus lean Democratic and Christians lean Republican. In fact, from 2024 to 2026, support for the Republican Party among Christian Indian Americans increased by 33% to 43%, while support from Hindus and Muslims declined.
The research report was authored by Sumitra Badrinathan, Devesh Kapur, Andy Robaina and Milan Vaishnav.
issued – February 19, 2026 11:11pm IST
