NBC/Telemundo Poll Finds Latino Voters Turning Away From Trump

Latino voters who helped return Donald Trump to the White House in 2024 are now souring on him and his party, according to a new NBC News/Telemundo poll released Oct. 4, a shift that could reshape close House and Senate races in the 2026 midterms, NBC News reports.

The poll, conducted by NBC News and Telemundo, finds Trump's approval rating among Latino voters at 27%, with the same group expressing broad discontent over the administration's immigration enforcement and its handling of the economy. Reporters Ben Kamisar and Bridget Bowman write that the numbers hand Democrats "a major opportunity to capitalize" in districts and states with sizable Latino populations.

What does the poll say about Trump's standing with Latino voters?

The topline number is stark: just 27% of Latino voters approve of Trump's job performance, according to the survey. That figure sits well below the enthusiasm that helped deliver him Latino support in 2024, and it tracks with broader discontent NBC News found across the full electorate over prices and immigration policy.

The poll's authors frame the finding as evidence of a measurable swing rather than a marginal dip, noting that the shift gives Democrats room to compete in Latino-heavy districts that were closer than expected in the last cycle.

Why are Latino voters breaking from the GOP now?

Two issues dominate the complaints captured in the survey: deportation policy and the cost of living. Two-thirds of Latino respondents said the administration's deportation policies have gone too far, and three-quarters disapprove of how Trump has handled the economy, according to the poll.

Those two numbers are doing most of the work in explaining the approval collapse. Immigration enforcement has long been a sensitive issue within Latino communities even among voters who favor stricter border policy in the abstract, and the poll suggests the scale or conduct of recent enforcement actions has pushed a majority of Latino respondents into open disapproval. The economic complaint tracks with NBC News' broader reporting that cost-of-living concerns are weighing on the electorate as a whole, not just Latino voters specifically.

Does the poll show any gains for Republicans?

The survey's own framing acknowledges a more complicated long-term picture even as it documents the immediate swing. The poll's summary line states that "the GOP has made some long-term gains" with Latino voters even as Democrats hold "a significant lead" in the current snapshot — a reminder that a single approval number does not erase multi-cycle shifts in party identification that Republicans have built among some Latino subgroups.

NBC News' companion reporting, flagged in the same package, notes that "the Latino vote is not a monolith" and breaks differently by gender, generation and other factors — a caveat that applies directly to how any single topline approval number should be read.

What does this mean for the 2026 midterms?

Kamisar and Bowman write that the shift matters most in districts and states where Latino voters make up a decisive share of the electorate. A drop to 27% approval, paired with two-thirds disapproval of deportation policy and three-quarters disapproval on the economy, is the kind of erosion that campaign strategists in both parties watch closely heading into a midterm cycle, since even modest movement among a bloc this size can flip competitive seats.

The poll does not specify which individual races are most exposed, and NBC News' reporting frames the finding as a national trend rather than a district-by-district forecast.

By the numbers

• 27% — Trump's job approval rating among Latino voters, per the NBC News/Telemundo poll
• Two-thirds — share of Latino voters who say deportation policies have gone too far
• Three-quarters — share of Latino voters who disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy and cost of living

The full survey and demographic breakdowns are detailed in NBC News' Oct. 4 report.

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