Seventy-One Per Cent of Catholics Say Trump Is 'Not Too' or 'Not at All' Religious in New Poll

Seventy-one per cent of American Catholics now view President Donald Trump as 'not too' or 'not at all' religious, according to comprehensive new polling data from the Pew Research Centre.

'Just 5 per cent describe him as very religious, while 80 per cent of Hispanic Catholics say he is not particularly religious,' said the research.

The finding underscores a widening perceptual gap among voters who helped fuel his 2024 electoral victory by casting 55 per cent of their ballots in his favour.

While conservative Catholics have historically prioritised judicial appointments, religious liberty, and anti-abortion policies over personal piety, the latest metrics indicate a deepening scepticism regarding the president's personal spiritual alignment.

This sentiment varies significantly across racial and ethnic lines within the Church, registering most acutely among Hispanic Catholics, who describe the president as lacking traditional religious devotion.

Trump's 2024 victory among Catholics was one of the election's biggest religious shifts as Catholics had split almost evenly between Trump and Joe Biden in 2020, but Pew Research found Trump winning 55 per cent of the Catholic vote in 2024, compared with 43 per cent for Kamala Harris.

Less than two years into Trump's second term, signs of strain are emerging. Pew found his approval among white Catholics falling from 59 per cent in February 2025 to 52 per cent in January 2026, while approval among Hispanic Catholics dropped from 31 per cent to 23 per cent.

For Republicans, the numbers matter ahead of November's midterm elections. But they do not necessarily mean Catholics are abandoning Trump. Instead, they suggest a coalition built around different priorities could become vulnerable when those priorities clash.

The Catholic Vote Is Not One Vote

There is no single Catholic vote. American Catholicism includes conservative white voters, Latino Catholics, working-class voters and progressives with very different political priorities.

Trump brought enough of those groups together in 2024 to improve on his 2020 performance. Pew found that 7 per cent of Catholics who backed Biden in 2020 switched to Trump, while only 4 per cent of Trump's 2020 Catholic voters moved to Harris. The question now is whether that coalition was durable or transactional.

Immigration Exposes a Fault Line

Immigration is one area where the coalition could come under pressure. Many Catholics supported tighter border controls, but the Catholic Church's emphasis on the dignity of migrants creates tension with aggressive deportation policies.

That tension is particularly important for Hispanic Catholics. Immigration policy is not an abstract issue when those facing deportation may be relatives, parishioners or neighbours.

Trump does not necessarily need to lose these voters outright for Republicans to suffer. A voter who remains culturally conservative but becomes less enthusiastic about the president could simply stay home.

Abortion Still Pulls Catholics Right

Abortion remains an important Republican anchor, although Catholics themselves are divided. Pew found in 2025 that 59 per cent of Catholics believed abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while roughly four-in-ten said it should be illegal in most or all cases.

The finding about Trump's religiosity should therefore not be treated as a direct measure of his political support.

A Catholic voter can regard Trump as insufficiently religious while still supporting him because of abortion, judicial appointments, religious liberty or cultural issues. Trump does not have to be seen as a religious role model to remain politically useful to conservative Catholics.

Pope Leo Creates Another Fault Line

Trump also faces an unusual complication in Catholic politics: Pope Leo XIV. About 78 per cent of US Catholics have a favourable view of the American-born pope, according to Pew. More than half, 51 per cent, said Trump had been too critical of Leo.

That gives Catholic voters a religious authority whose disagreements with Trump can carry political weight. Leo and Trump have clashed over issues, including migrants and foreign policy. The divide is not absolute, but the tension gives disaffected Catholics another way to view the president.

Why Evangelicals Are Different

Trump's relationship with white evangelicals has also cooled, but the group remains firmly aligned with him. Pew found approval among white evangelical Protestants falling from 78 per cent in February 2025 to 69 per cent in January 2026.

Even after that decline, evangelicals remained one of Trump's strongest religious constituencies.

Their support has become closely tied to cultural and political identity. Many voters view Trump less as a religious role model than as a political defender of conservative Christianity.

Catholics are less politically cohesive. Their support can therefore be more sensitive to individual issues, particularly immigration and Trump's relationship with the pope.

Midterm Turnout Is The Real Risk

Republicans do not need Catholics to become Democrats for declining support to matter. A relatively small number of 2024 Trump voters staying home or splitting their ticket could prove consequential in closely contested races.

The risk may be greatest among Hispanic Catholics, where Trump's approval is already considerably lower than among white Catholics.

None of this means Catholics are about to abandon Trump or the Republican Party. His coalition retains powerful support on abortion, religious liberty and cultural issues.

But the latest polling exposes an important distinction. Trump's evangelical base is deeply embedded in cultural identity, while Catholic support is more fragmented and issue-driven. That made Catholics one of the keys to Trump's 2024 victory. It could also make them one of the groups Republicans cannot afford to take for granted in November.

Ultimately, the revelation that a substantial majority of Catholics view Trump as minimally religious does not signal an immediate mass exodus from the party. Instead, it serves as an indicator that the transactional alignment between religious voters and the administration remains subject to continuous cost-benefit evaluations on the ground.