U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval rating remains low, according to three separate polls released within a week.
Trump’s approval rating has remained below 40% for much of his second year back in the White House, with most Americans holding a negative view of his performance since the early days of his second presidency.
President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks at the Mack Trucks facility in Macungie, Pennsylvania, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)
Donald Trump Creative Commons Photograph
The polls signal bad news for Republican candidates with less than six weeks to go until November’s midterm elections.
Emerson College Poll Has Trump In a Bad Place
Trump’s approval rating dipped below 40% after a minor uptick in the previous Emerson College poll released last month. 39% of the 1,000 likely voters approved of the President’s performance, compared to 58% who did not.
Furthermore, 56% of respondents, including one-fifth of GOP voters, said Trump’s performance had been worse than expected. 60% said the President’s economic policies were making the economy worse, with just over one-quarter believing the economy was improving.
The economy remains the top concern for two-fifths of likely voters, with threats to democracy (17%), immigration (13%), and healthcare (12%) rounding out the biggest issues.
In an unpromising sign for GOP candidates ahead of the midterms, the Democrats led a generic congressional ballot by 11 points.
“While the generic ballot test doesn’t capture nuances of individual races, it’s an important metric to gauge the magnitude of a potential Democratic wave,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “Independent and Hispanic voters, who broke for Trump in 2024, support the Democratic candidate by significant margins, 60% to 31% and 64% to 31%, respectively.”
1,000 people were surveyed as part of the two-day poll that began on Monday, 21st September. The poll’s margin of error was +/- 3%.
CNN/SSRS
The news goes from bad to worse for President Trump in the CNN/SSRS poll, where just one-third of all U.S. adults surveyed believed he is doing a good job. 67% of respondents disapproved of his performance, marking his lowest approval rating in a CNN poll across either of his two terms.
Trump’s handling of foreign affairs had dropped to 29% – the lowest of any CNN/SSRS poll conducted on the President since January 2017.
His handling of the Iran war has also fallen in approval, down seven points to 26% since the conflict began in February.
Interestingly, much of this decline comes from Republicans.
In March, 73% of Republicans approved of how Trump had handled Iran, although that figure has now dropped to just three-fifths.
Furthermore, 70% of all adults polled said the war had hurt American interests, and 76% said the war had not been worth the toll it has taken in American lives or the financial burden on the federal government.
The two-day poll began on Wednesday, 16th September, with a sample of 1,206 adults. It contains a margin of error of +/- 3.5%.
PBS/NPR/Marist
Much like Emerson College, Trump’s approval rating in the PBS/NPR/Marist poll stood at 39%.
This compared with 59% who disapproved of his performance, a net disapproval of 20 points.
A similar story appears in the congressional generic ballot, with the Democrats leading the GOP 53% to 41%.
The former leads the Republicans when respondents are asked which party would handle key issues better, such as the economy (42%- 34%), foreign policy (42%- 36%), and gas prices (40%- 27%), but the gap narrows on immigration (41%- 38%).
1,280 registered voters were surveyed in the two-day poll beginning Monday, 14th September. The margin of error was +/- 3.8%.
What it Means
While Trump’s low approval ratings may hurt his personal pride, those most concerned will be GOP candidates vying for seats in the Senate or the House of Representatives this November.
Of course, congressional generic ballots should be taken with a pinch of salt.
They negate local candidates who campaign on local issues, and some GOP hopefuls are already distancing themselves from Trump’s line on Iran.
However, the polls are consistent: most voters are leaning toward the Democrats, and with a little over five weeks to go until polling day, it may be too little, too late for Republican candidates who want to distance themselves from the administration.
Democrat control within Congress also creates a headache for Trump, particularly if the Democrats win back the House.
The last two years of his previous presidency were plagued by impeachment efforts, and history may repeat itself if the polls prove to be correct.
About the author: Shay Bottomley
Shay Bottomley is a British journalist. He has written for the Western Standard, Business Insider, Maidenhead Advertiser, Slough Express, Windsor Express, Berkshire Live and Southend Echo.
