Trump approval rating tracker: How his popularity plunged ahead of the midterms

Economic approval hits new low

Trump’s approval rating on the economy is down 14 percentage points from March 2025, shortly after he began his second term. In a recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, only 17% of adults approved of his handling of the cost of living.

The poll found that 65% of U.S. adults blamed Trump’s policies more than factors beyond his control for persistently high costs. About seven in 10 said his handling of living costs was worse than they expected, and 73% said their cost of living was moving in the wrong direction.

Roughly half of adults said they were extremely or very concerned about affording groceries and gas. A separate Reuters/Ipsos poll put Trump’s overall rating at 32% last week.

Prices weigh on voters

The article links rising fuel costs to February’s military strikes on Iran, which it says have helped push inflation to the center of congressional races. It also cites public dissatisfaction with the war and Trump’s use of tariffs. Bethany Lnenicka, a 41-year-old Iowa small-farm operator who voted for Trump three times, said grocery prices were rising while income was not.

Midterm campaigns intensify

The approval figures arrive weeks before midterm elections that will decide whether Republicans keep control of Congress. The article reports that Democratic Senate candidates were leading Republicans in several battleground states, including Texas and Alaska, according to the latest New York Times polling.

Trump has been holding rallies and urging voters to act as if he were on the ballot, seeking to bolster turnout. The article says even some Republicans fault him for not delivering promised economic relief.

Robert Gault, a 66-year-old retired factory worker from Bradford, Pennsylvania, described himself as a Republican and said he had hoped Trump would help the country. Gault said he had not yet seen that happen with the economy or more broadly.