President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to a new low in another poll as the midterms are just weeks away.
Surveying 1,277 likely voters with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points, the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll found that the president’s overall approval stands at 32 percent. Even among Republicans, the president’s approval saw a significant drop in the week from 82 percent to 73 percent — a drop from 86 percent in January of this year and 91 percent following the inauguration in January 2025.
The president’s approval among Republicans has been steadily declining since the Iran conflict began, with recent polling showing a drop among his base even on economic issues. Since January, Republican support for Trump’s handling of the economy has dropped to 56 percent while Republican support for his handling of the cost of living has dropped to 44 percent.
“For really his entire political career, the president has enjoyed very strong support among the Republican Party and among his base, and that’s still true today, but it’s a bit less true,” Alec Tyson, senior vice president and lead pollster at Ipsos Public Affairs, told the Hill.
“Those are striking numbers,” Tyson added, “Numbers that we hadn’t seen until recent weeks here in our Ipsos polling.”
Approval ratings for the president as the midterms loom have ranged from as high as 39 percent to as low as 29 percent. According to Fox News, Republican performance in the coming midterms will hinge on several factors, most specifically inflation and base enthusiasm:
Democrats last week heavily criticized Trump and Republicans after the president argued that fuel costs were “a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done,” as he pointed to the attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Meanwhile, the latest Fox News poll indicated that by a wide margin, the Democrats are considered the party that would better handle inflation.
But when asked about the overall economy, recent national surveys from Reuters/Ipsos and NBC News had the GOP and Democrats all knotted up on which party would better handle the issue.
The president’s approval rating, however, remains at an all-time high for voters who identified as self-described MAGA Republicans. The president and his allies have also shifted to highlighting leftward extremism, such as the rise of Democratic Socialists, as a way to maintain base enthusiasm.
“There’s a major risk that a lot of Republicans will be staying home in November, while Democrats turn out in droves,” Republican strategist William F. B. O’Reilly told the Hill.
“The dissatisfaction with the Iran war strategy and rising gas prices are sapping enthusiasm on the right at the worst possible time,” he added. “We have one month to turn that around.”
Republican political analyst Ford O’Connell also said that Republicans will have to make the case that conditions will improve if they retain control of Congress.
“Republicans have not made the case that when Trump came into office, the Biden economy was far worse than anyone imagined, and it was not going to be fixed overnight. That’s the problem, is they’re playing defense versus offense,” O’Connell said.
“Republicans are definitely facing strong headwinds, but that does not mean that the game is over. And if they stop pushing right now, they will certainly lose both the House and the Senate,” he added. “And they should hold onto the Senate and could conceivably have a very narrow loss in the House, or, if something totally breaks their way, could actually hold the House by basically the status quo that they have now.”
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