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By Sam Stevenson
Associate News Editor
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President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to an all-time low in The Economist/YouGov polling following Republican midterm losses, confirming a broader downward slide across major surveys.
The drop highlights deepening public frustration over inflation and the conflict with Iran as voters digest the November election results.
Trump faces weakened political capital heading into the final two years of his term against an incoming Democratic-controlled Congress.
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“Under President Trump’s leadership, this administration has signed the largest working-class tax cuts in history, secured the border, cut the cost of prescription drugs, added more than one million private-sector jobs, and locked in nearly 20 trade deals,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Newsweek in a previous emailed response to The Economist/YouGov polling.
“President Trump will never stop delivering results for the American people and he will undoubtedly go down as the most successful and consequential president in American history,” Ingle added.
Newsweek reached out to the White House again on Friday morning via a website contact form seeking further comment on the latest poll.
Key Points
- Record Low in YouGov Tracking: Only 32 percent of U.S. citizens approve of Trump’s job performance while 63 percent disapprove in The Economist/YouGov survey conducted November 9–11, 2026.
- A Nearly Two-Year Slide: His net approval rating (those who approve minus those who disapprove) of -31 points breaks his previous series lows from August 2026 and his first term’s -28.
- Widespread Pollster Consensus: Separate surveys from Reuters/Ipsos, CNN/SSRS, and Pew Research Center have recently recorded similarly low ratings between 30 percent and 32 percent.
- Independents Drive the Decline: Souring sentiment among non-aligned voters regarding the cost of living and foreign entanglements underpins the sustained erosion.
Why It Matters
Trump entered his second term in January 2025 with nearly half of Americans backing his leadership, yet sustained economic anxiety and geopolitical turmoil have steadily chipped away at that support.
Rather than representing a statistical fluke, this post-election nadir reflects a durable realignment among swing voters that just cost Republicans control of Congress.
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A New Floor
Conducted among 1,685 U.S. citizens with a margin of error of 3 percentage points, the latest Economist/YouGov poll marks a four-point drop from the week prior.
When Trump returned to the White House in late January 2025, 48.9 percent approved of his performance and 43.3 percent disapproved.
By mid-February 2025, positive sentiment briefly crested at 50.1 percent before beginning a jagged, twenty-month descent.
Approval dipped to 33 percent in early August 2026, which stood as his lowest mark across both presidencies at the time, and briefly rebounded into the upper thirties and low forties during pre-election polling in September and October.
Dropping to 32 percent in November pushes his net approval to -31 points, undercutting even the -28 net low he experienced during his first administration.
Broader Polling Consensus and Averages
Multiple independent pollsters confirm that Trump’s standing has hit a nationwide ceiling in the low thirties:
- Reuters/Ipsos: A post-election survey conducted November 6–9 among 1,705 adults, with a margin of error of about 2 percentage points, also found 32 percent approval against 65 percent disapproval.
- CNN/SSRS: October 15-18 polling, conducted among 1,701 U.S. adults, with a plus or minus 2.9 percentage point margin of error, placed his positive rating at an identical 32 percent.
- Pew Research Center: A survey of 5,062 U.S. adults conducted September 28-October 4, 2026, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 1.6 percentage points, recorded his approval even lower, at 30 percent alongside 68 percent disapproval.
Multi-poll aggregators smooth out individual survey fluctuations and tell a consistent story of long-term erosion.
The New York Times daily polling average currently sits at 36 percent approval and 61 percent disapproval, matching its lowest point of his presidency.
Nate Silver’s Silver Bulletin placed him at 37.6 percent approval as of November 12, while RealClearPolitics registered 38.7 percent, leaving him underwater by roughly 20 to 25 points across every major tracker.
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Economic Pessimism and the Iran Conflict
Underlying data reveals that non-aligned voters are abandoning the administration over pocketbook pressures and foreign policy.
In the Reuters/Ipsos post-election breakdown, just 23 percent of independents approve of Trump's overall job performance, while 71 percent disapprove.
Inflation and living costs remain the primary drag on public confidence.
Within the Economist/YouGov survey, 66 percent of respondents believe the country is off on the wrong track, and 55 percent say the economy is getting worse.
Some 42 percent expect prices to rise over the next year, compared with just 15 percent who anticipate declines, while 37 percent believe the nation is already in a recession.
Reuters/Ipsos data reinforces this discontent, showing only 19 percent of Americans—and 12 percent of independents—approve of his handling of rising prices.
Foreign affairs and institutional controversies compound those economic grievances.
Only 26 percent of adults in the Ipsos survey approve of Trump’s handling of the war with Iran, including just 18 percent of independents.
Meanwhile, majorities in the YouGov poll disapprove of his approach to crime, taxes, and government spending, with half supporting congressional efforts to halt construction on his White House ballroom and a majority viewing him as using the office for personal gain.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Sam Stevenson and Cristina Diciu.
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