Disapproval of Trump hits highest level of his second term
Disapproval of President Donald Trump has climbed to the highest level of his second term, according to The New York Times polling average, which found that 58% of Americans disapprove of the president’s job performance while only 39% approve.
That is the highest disapproval rating Trump has faced since the end of his first term, in the aftermath of his reelection campaign loss and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump’s weakening poll numbers come as the war in Iran has sharply driven up gas prices, and as a growing number of Americans are expressing concerns about the economy. Many Democrats are trying to make the midterm elections a referendum on Trump’s presidency, and some of Trump’s former allies in the conservative media, including Tucker Carlson, have turned against him in recent days.
A Marquette University Law School poll taken last week found Trump’s approval rating has dipped to 28% among political independents, down from 39% when he took office. Among Republicans the president has also lost some ground, though the vast majority of the party — 80% — still approve of his job performance.
Taken together, the Times polling average shows that Trump now has a net approval rating — approval minus disapproval — of negative 19 percentage points, as of Thursday.
Approval ratings can move around from day to day as new polls update our understanding of how the American public is feeling about the president, but Trump has experienced several weeks of weakening poll numbers.
Concern about the economy is reaching a fever pitch. Seven in 10 voters now say that the economy is getting worse for them and their families, up from 55% just one year ago in a recent Fox News poll. Economic anxiety is also up sharply with the president’s base. Nearly half of Republicans now say the economy is getting worse, double the share who said the same last April.
This comes as Trump’s approval on the economy stands at 34% and his approval on handling inflation at just 28%. Voters are far more likely to approve of how he has been handling immigration and the border. Nearly half of all voters — 46% — approve of Trump’s immigration policy.
This article originally appeared in .
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