Trump's approval rating hits record low ... 33% in WP-ABC poll, down 4 percentage points from three months ago

[Financial News] President Donald Trump's approval rating has hit another record low, further dimming the Republican Party's prospects in the midterm elections.
A poll commissioned by The Washington Post (WP) and ABC from Ipsos and released on the 18th (local time) found that 33% approved of Trump's job performance. That was down 4 percentage points from the poll in July, a new low in his second term.
Some 66% said they disapproved of Trump's job performance, including 52% who strongly disapproved.
A poll released by NBC News the same day also put Trump's approval rating at a record low of 34%. Disapproval of his job performance rose to 66%, including 51% who said they strongly disapproved.
A poll released on the 14th by Fox News, which leans right and is pro-Republican, also found Trump's approval rating at 36%, its lowest across his first and second terms.


In the latest WP-ABC poll, respondents were asked which they preferred, a Democratic-led Congress or a Republican-led Congress. Some 58% chose the Democrats and 39% the Republicans. The 19-percentage-point gap between the parties is about twice that in the poll a year ago.
Among Democratic voters, 75% said they would definitely vote. The same share of Republicans with MAGA (Make America Great Again) leanings said they would definitely vote, but the figure fell to 57% among Republicans who do not identify with MAGA.
Economic concerns, especially prices, were the biggest factor behind Trump's falling approval rating. Disapproval of his economic policies and the cost of living stood at 70% and 77%, respectively.
Approval of Trump's economic policies stood at just 28%, down from 41% in February this year and 33% in July. At the same point in 2018, during the midterm election in Trump's first term, approval of his economic policies was 49%.
Some 48% of respondents said their financial situation had worsened since Trump returned to office. That is the highest figure in WP-ABC polls of presidents dating back to 1986. Among respondents who said they were facing financial difficulties, 78% preferred Democrats in congressional elections. Independents also favored the Democrats, at 71%.


In the February poll, before the war with Iran began, 71% said gas prices were affordable. Now, 71% say they are hard to afford, reflecting a shift in perceptions of the burden of gas prices.
More than half of respondents said they had trouble affording groceries, medical care and household energy costs, while fewer than 4 in 10 said they could afford to eat out.
Some 65% said the war with Iran was a mistake by President Trump. Another 68% disapproved of the way he treats U.S. allies. More than half also expressed negative views of his handling of immigration and his approach to deporting undocumented immigrants.
Among respondents who said they voted for Trump in the 2024 presidential election, 23% disapproved of his overall job performance, 31% disapproved of his handling of the economy, and 38% criticized his handling of inflation. Many of them are likely not to vote at all in the midterm elections.
Some 66% said Trump was using his office to amass wealth. About 80% said it was inappropriate for him to want to put his name on the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.


When asked which party they trusted more to handle economic issues, more respondents chose the Democrats (40%) than the Republicans (33%). This is the first time since 2014 that Democrats have led Republicans on trust in economic matters in a WP-ABC poll.
WP said, “Although 54% of American adults have an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party, it is seen as the more trustworthy party on several issues,” adding that “this may be because even more Americans—63%—dislike the Republican Party.”
The WP-ABC poll surveyed 2,545 U.S. adults from the 9th to the 13th and weighted the results based on Pew Research Center data on Americans' party leanings. The margin of error is ±2 percentage points.
The NBC News poll, commissioned from SurveyMonkey, was conducted among 19,135 adults from the 29th of last month through the 12th of this month. The margin of error is ±2.6 percentage points.

[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, international affairs specialist Reporter