President Donald Trump claimed this week that his popularity is at an all-time high. “The sad thing is, I have my highest numbers that I’ve ever had,” he said aboard Air Force One on Tuesday. But a new survey tells a very different story. According to new polling from The Economist and YouGov, Trump’s approval rating has plunged to 39 percent, with 58 percent of Americans disapproving, his lowest mark since returning to office.
The poll’s results paint a grim picture for the president. His net approval rating of minus 19 percent is worse than nearly all readings from his first term and marks a sharp slide from earlier this year. The data suggests Trump is now struggling with virtually every major demographic group outside his base, even as he insists his popularity has never been stronger.
The partisan divide remains as stark as ever. Ninety-seven percent of Democrats disapprove of Trump’s job performance, while 86 percent of Republicans approve. But beneath those predictable splits are troubling signs for Trump’s re-election prospects. Among voters under 30, only 20 percent say they approve of the president, a generational low that could haunt him in future elections. Support is slightly stronger among those aged 30 to 64, hovering around the mid-40s, before dipping again among voters over 65.
Forty-six percent of men say they approve of Trump’s actions in office, compared to just 32 percent of women. Among minority voters, the numbers are even worse: only 11 percent of Black Americans and 29 percent of Hispanic Americans say they support his presidency. The figures point to a coalition that’s shrinking rather than expanding — a warning sign for any leader hoping to maintain political dominance.
Trump’s issue-specific numbers are equally bleak. On immigration, his net approval sits at minus 10. On abortion, minus 17. On education, minus 19. The economy and jobs — once his political stronghold — now stand at minus 22. On climate and environmental issues, minus 31. And on inflation and grocery prices, voters give him his harshest score of all, minus 31. With the cost of living still rising, the president’s ability to sell his economic agenda appears to be collapsing.
The poll also shows widespread disapproval of Trump’s recent controversies. Fifty-five percent of Americans disapprove of his escalating trade fight with Canada, while just one in four approve of his decision to demolish the East Wing of the White House to build a private ballroom. Only 16 percent support his commutation of disgraced ex-congressman George Santos, 8 percent favor a potential pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, and just 4 percent back clemency for Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Perhaps most striking, 63 percent of respondents reject Trump’s effort to seek $230 million in “compensation” from the Justice Department over past investigations into him. And according to the same survey, roughly 8 percent of American adults said they participated in October’s “No Kings” rally, a massive anti-Trump demonstration that, extrapolated nationally, would represent over 27 million people.
Several prominent MAGA influencers have spoken out about Trump’s policies that go against his promises, particularly when it comes to America First. For all his boasts of increasing support, Trump’s latest approval numbers show a leader facing a steep fall from grace and a country increasingly ready to move on.
