- Trump’s approval has plunged to 39% with a net -18, worse than his previous low, driven by inflation, shutdown, and weak jobs data.
- Broad backlash: heavy disapproval among young voters, Hispanics, women, and slipping economic approval, threatening his 2024 coalition.
WASHINGTON—Ten months into his second stint in the White House, President Donald Trump’s approval ratings have cratered to levels not even seen during his tumultuous first term, according to a fresh YouGov/Economist survey that paints a grim picture of voter disillusionment.
With 57 percent of Americans now disapproving of his performance and just 39 percent approving, Trump’s net rating sits at a dismal minus-18—a mark three points worse than his lowest ebb from 2017 to 2021.
The drop comes as persistent inflation, a grinding government shutdown, and faltering job numbers have eroded the economic optimism that propelled him back to power last November.
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The poll, which surveyed 1,623 U.S. adults, underscores a broad backlash across demographics.
A majority of men (53 percent) now disapprove, along with 63 percent of women, 65 percent of Hispanics, and a whopping 75 percent of voters aged 18 to 29—the very young cohort that helped tip key battlegrounds like Pennsylvania and Georgia in his favor during the 2024 election.
Even on signature issues like the economy and immigration, where Trump once commanded Republican loyalty, the numbers have soured.
His net approval on jobs and the economy has plunged to minus-22, while inflation and prices fare even worse at minus-32.
Immigration, a cornerstone of his 2024 campaign, clocks in at minus-10.
It’s a stark reversal from the heady days of January, when Trump entered office riding a wave of post-election goodwill and promises of economic revival.
Back then, polls showed him with a net positive on economic matters, a rare bright spot for any incoming president.
Voters had handed him a decisive Electoral College victory over Vice President Kamala Harris—312 to 226—despite Harris edging the popular vote 48.4 percent to Trump’s 49.9 percent, according to final tallies from the Associated Press and other outlets.
Trump swept all seven swing states, including a narrow but pivotal win in Wisconsin that sealed his comeback.
What Further Poll Data Reveals
Exit polls highlighted his broadened appeal: He pulled 48 percent of the Hispanic vote, up from 36 percent against Biden in 2020, and 15 percent of Black voters, double his 2020 share.
Men backed him by 12 points overall, while women leaned Harris by 7.
But that coalition is fraying fast. “Mr. Trump was re-elected on a wave of economic pessimism, telling voters that ‘incomes will skyrocket, inflation will vanish completely, jobs will come roaring back and the middle class will prosper like never, ever before’ during his second term,” The Economist noted in its analysis of the YouGov data.
“So far, they have been disappointed.”
Sweeping tariffs implemented early in the term sparked investor jitters and supply chain snarls, while food prices—beef in particular—have spiked despite White House vows to tame them.
A recent CNBC All-America Economic Survey captured the shift, pegging Trump’s economic approval at 42 percent approve to 55 percent disapprove, with 56 percent now opposing his tariff policies—a net minus-15.
“It is clear that the cost of living in Americans’ own personal lives is much more likely to be weighing them down about their economic confidence,” said Micah Roberts, a partner at Republican pollster Public Opinion Strategies.
Compounding the pain is the partial government shutdown, now in its 29th day and the third-longest in U.S. history.
Sparked by a standoff over spending bills, health care subsidies, and Trump’s push for a $300 million White House ballroom renovation, the impasse has furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal workers and delayed air travel nationwide.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Monday found 50 percent of respondents pinning most blame on Republican congressional leaders, with 43 percent faulting Democrats.
Yet Trump’s personal approval held steady at 42 percent in that survey—up a hair from prior weeks but still mired in the 40-44 percent range that’s defined his second term since spring.
Nate Silver’s Silver Bulletin, aggregating 10 recent polls as of October 27, puts his overall approval at 43.8 percent approve to 53.1 percent disapprove—a net minus-9.3 that’s barely budged despite the turmoil.
Trump Still Insists His Numbers Are “Soaring”
The president, undeterred, has brushed off the grim data during a swing through Asia this week. Speaking to business leaders in Tokyo on October 28, Trump insisted his numbers were soaring.
“I have my highest numbers that I’ve ever had. I ended eight wars, and we have the greatest economy in history,” he said, adding a nod to rising grocery costs: “Energy prices are way down. Everything’s way down. Beef is a little bit high, but we’re going to get beef down too.”
It’s a familiar refrain; earlier this month, he posted on Truth Social that he was seeing “the best Polling Numbers that I have ever received,” despite Gallup data showing his October approval at 40 percent—higher than his 35 percent at this point in his first term but far from a peak.
Among Republicans, support remains rock-solid at 85-90 percent, per multiple surveys, but that’s cold comfort when independents and even some base voters are peeling away.
State-level breakdowns tell a similar story of eroding support. Morning Consult’s October tracker shows Trump net positive in just 24 states, with Wyoming at his high-water mark and Vermont at the low—though all seven 2024 swing states have now flipped to net negative for the first time.
In Florida, a state he carried handily last year, approval stands at 51-45, per the same poll.
New Jersey leans heavily against him at minus-23.8 net, while national aggregates from RealClear Polling hover around 45 percent approve.
An Emerson College Polling survey from mid-October found his job approval steady at 45 percent, with a slight uptick in views on foreign policy—like the Gaza ceasefire—but persistent negativity on the economy.
So, What Comes Next?
As the shutdown drags into November, with Democrats digging in on expiring health subsidies and Republicans eyeing midterm gains in 2026, the pressure is mounting.
Polls suggest the impasse isn’t tanking Trump’s numbers outright—unlike the 2018-19 shutdown that shaved points off his rating—but it’s amplifying voter anxiety over basics like SNAP benefits and federal paychecks.
Young voters, in particular, report feeling “worse off” financially than a year ago, per Emerson, fueling a 75 percent disapproval rate in the YouGov sample.
For a White House that stormed back on vows of prosperity and strength, these polls signal trouble ahead.
With midterms looming and a lame-duck term capped at one more year, Trump’s team faces a reckoning: Can they steady the ship before the discontent hardens into lasting damage
The numbers, for now, suggest the answer is no.
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