President Donald Trump's approval rating has dropped to 37 percent, the lowest recorded for any president heading into a midterm election in Wall Street Journal polls dating to 1990, according to a new survey released Friday. The poll of 1,500 registered voters, conducted September 16-21, found that 61 percent disapprove of Trump's job performance. The result comes as Republicans battle growing concerns about their prospects in November's midterm elections and as several recent surveys have shown the president's popularity deteriorating.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment via email. According to the Journal survey, just 37 percent of Americans approve of Trump's job performance while 61 percent disapprove. The poll also found signs of weakness within Trump's coalition.
Eleven percent of voters who backed Trump in the 2024 election said they now regret their vote. Among Republicans who do not identify as part of the MAGA movement, 11 percent said they plan to vote for a Democratic congressional candidate this fall. The results add to a growing body of evidence suggesting Trump's political standing has weakened as the midterms approach.
Newsweek reported on Thursday that Trump's net approval rating in Nate Silver's polling tracker fell to minus 22.4, the lowest point of either of his White House terms. "Trump approval now at -22.4, his low point for the term and now lower than at any point in his first term, even after Jan. 6," Silver wrote on X. VoteHub's polling average also placed Trump's net approval at minus 22.4.
Economic pessimism was widespread in the Wall Street Journal survey. Nearly two-thirds of respondents, 65 percent, rated the U.S. economy negatively, compared with 33 percent who viewed it positively. The poll also found that 60 percent said Trump's economic policies had made the economy worse, while 25 percent said they had made the economy better.
Those findings broadly align with recent polling covered by Newsweek. A /Ipsos poll released earlier this month found Trump at 32 percent approval. An American Research Group survey put his approval rating at 29 percent.
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