Lowest approval of his first term
A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll of 2,545 adults, conducted between 9 and 13 October, puts Trump's approval at 33%, while 66% disapprove of how he is handling the presidency. That approval level is lower than at any point in his first term and sits about eight points below the same point last year. Some 52% of respondents said they strongly disapprove. The figures come as the president faces criticism over the brief tenure of Katie Zacharia as White House Press Secretary and widespread anger over the war in Iran, with the midterm elections set for 3 November.
Voters favor Democrats on Congress and the economy
When asked who should control Congress, 59% of respondents chose Democrats, to act as a check on Trump, against 35% who wanted Republicans in charge to support his agenda.
On the economy, 37% said they trust Democrats more to handle it, compared with 28% who said the same of Republicans. That is the first time in more than a decade that the public has trusted Democrats more on the economy.
Despite the numbers, Trump has kept boasting about his party's midterm chances and has urged voters to act as if he were on the ballot. Speaking at a rally in Georgia, he said:
You have to pretend I'm on the ballot.
He also claimed that the party gets 49% more votes when he is on the ballot.
Fuel prices fuel economic anger
Economic anger is tied to the Iran conflict. A Harris Poll of 3,993 US adults found that half of Republicans say the US is in a recession, a rise of 11% since May, while 72% of Democrats and 61% of independents agree. Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has caused a diesel shortage that raises the cost of long-haul shipping, and pump prices average $1.20 more than in 2025, reaching $6.20 a gallon in California. Trump has lifted US sanctions on Russia, which he says will ease fuel prices, but the extra fuel expected before the midterms amounts to only about 12 hours' worth. Only 28% of Republicans blame the government for high gas prices, the poll found, with more pointing to oil companies, the Iranian government and economic swings.
Asian American voters sour on the economy
A poll by AP-NORC and AAPI Data, conducted between 8 and 15 September, found that about a quarter of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults approve of Trump's overall performance, and only about two in 10 approve of his economic management. Around nine in 10 call the economy a key election issue, and roughly eight in 10 point to the cost of living. Trump's approval among these voters has fallen by about 10 percentage points since the start of the year. Rebecca Larocco, a 45-year-old Korean American voter in Corning, Iowa, backed Trump in 2016 and now leans Republican, though she is unsure about his economic record. She described the price effect this way:
Where I'm at, it's went up almost $1.50 (a gallon).
Energy prices and the midterm mood
Trump promised in 2024 to cut energy prices by half or more within 12 months of taking office. September consumer price index data showed petrol prices up 9.1%, the highest rate since the war in Iran started. An October Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 60% of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of Iran, and 78% blame the White House for higher prices. A Searchlight Institute survey from September asked voters what would best lower their energy bills, and the top answers were curbing excessive utility profits (21%), ending the Iran war (18%), improving grid efficiency (16%) and banning data centres (11%).