EWTN News reports Trump's approval rating was below 50% among American Catholic voters. In fact, only 23% of Catholics strongly approved of Trump while 40% strongly disapproved.
The research comes from a March poll by Republican-leaning Shaw & Company and Democrat-leaning Beacon Research, with only a 3% margin for error.
The results deviate from a 2025 Pew Research Center report showing that 55% of Catholics voted for Trump in 2024, making up about 22% of those who voted for him in total.
Philip Lawler, Catholic commentator and founder of Catholic World News, lays the more recent spat between Trump and Pope Leo firmly at the president's feet.
“He had a post saying he's not a good Pope. He, Trump, claimed credit for Pope Leo's election. He began by saying he's soft on crime. It was personal, and it was really over the top. The Pope did not start this,” Lawler says.
Then Monday, Trump retweeted a picture of himself as a Christlike figure healing a sick man. Lawler says most people, including most Catholics, viewed that as offensive and heretical.
“The people who were foursquare and behind Trump tend to be sympathetic with him, and they still are. I think the overwhelming majority of Catholics are offended by it,” Lawler states.
He says Trump is losing his Catholic base.
“As someone who has often been supportive of President Trump, I'm just appalled,” Lawler says.
In addition, Lawler says American Catholics are, in large part, opposed to the war with Iran, preferring a diplomatic solution. The conflict will not qualify as a just war when all is said and done, he states, in that any meaningful victory for the U.S. will take a disproportional response to the threat Iran posed.
And even though the president is not up for reelection in the upcoming midterms, Lawler says he is on the ballot.
“He himself is not up for election, but if his party loses in the midterms, he's going to be impeached again,” Lawler states.
