While President Donald Trump remains deeply unpopular in heavily Democratic California, a new poll finds surprising support in the state for the Republican’s top policy initiatives of shrinking the federal government and limiting federal benefits to U.S. citizens.

The poll of 1,591 California adults and 1,080 likely voters, conducted from May 22–29 by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California on a range of state and federal policies, found support among 57% of residents and likely voters for “downsizing the federal government.”

And when asked if they favored or opposed providing healthcare coverage for immigrants in California without legal status, 58% of adult residents were opposed, something majorities had favored in earlier surveys from 2015 to 2023.

Overall, Californians continue to have a low opinion of Trump, according to the survey released Wednesday, with just 29% of adults and 34% of likely voters approving his job as president. That figure has remained consistent since he took office for a second time in January.

The poll also found Californians are feeling sour about the economy.

About 75% of those surveyed expected “bad times financially” in the next year, with strong majorities among Democrats, Republicans and independents. That’s up from 62% just before the November 2024 election and is nearing heights not seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when 79% of respondents said so in PPIC polls.

Part of the reason for that rise? Trump’s tariffs on foreign adversaries and allies alike, PPIC polling director Mark Baldassare said in an interview. California is a top importer and exporter and enjoys close trading ties with Mexico, Canada and China, which are all facing heavy taxes on traded goods.

Californians are increasingly worried about finances amid Trump’s tariffs, and most oppose providing health care coverage for immigrants in California who entered the U.S. illegally.

Baldassare said voters are thinking, “What is it going to mean for me in terms of my pocketbook? And more broadly, what is it going to mean for jobs and the economy?”

Gov. Gavin Newsom expected next year’s state budget to be balanced in January, as Trump prepared to take office. But last month, the governor mostly blamed the president’s tariffs for an expected $12 billion revenue shortfall — which he dubbed the “Trump slump.” California had sued the federal government over the tariffs, but a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit on June 2.

Most Californians oppose the new tariffs, according to the new PPIC poll. About 70% said they strongly opposed or somewhat opposed new tariffs on Mexican imports, 72% opposed tariffs on Canadian imports and 63% opposed tariffs on Chinese imports.

While a majority of respondents signaled support for downsizing the federal government, PPIC polling on specific cuts, such as those made by Trump to the U.S. Department of Education this year, found that most Californians opposed them.

Seeking to balance California’s own budget, Newsom in May proposed pausing an extension of Medi-Cal, the state’s health care provider for low-income Californians, to immigrants living in the state illegally. With other health care cuts, that pause would save about $5 billion. Democrats in the Legislature appear to support Newsom’s plan, with some exceptions, CalMatters reported.

Baldassare also said the new poll is yet more evidence that Californians believe the state is unaffordable.

“It’s been the number one issue for a long while, but this poll confirms,” he said. “There’s a lot of negative feelings about the economy, both in the US and in California, in this poll — a lot of pessimism, too.”

In October, a joint poll between this news organization and Joint Venture Silicon Valley found that most Bay Area residents are finding it harder to afford necessities such as groceries, gas, child care, housing, and home insurance. In the South Bay, inequality has widened at twice the rate of the rest of the U.S. over the last decade, and its housing market is one of the priciest in the nation.

Newsom and other top Democrats in California pledged to make the state more affordable after pocketbook anxieties helped fuel modest gains by Republicans in the state Legislature but also Trump’s stunning political comeback.

So far, Democrats are advancing a series of bills in the Legislature that they say would save Californians money by streamlining home-building, protecting renters and reforming utilities. Republicans say their efforts are mostly insincere as Democrats have blocked top Republicans’ attempts to cut a key environmental program that contributes to higher gas prices.

The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 3.3 percentage points for California adults and plus or minus 4 percentage points for likely voters.

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