President Donald Trump's approval rating had been improving for more than a month. Now, that momentum is gone.
A new Economist/YouGov poll released Sept. 22 found Trump's approval rating fell five points in a single week, from 40% to 35%, wiping out five straight weeks of gains. The drop leaves him just two points above the lowest rating he's ever recorded in the survey and comes as Republicans enter the final stretch before November's midterm elections.
The poll points to growing political headwinds for the president. Democrats hold a double-digit lead over Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, while majorities disapprove of Trump's handling of several key issues, including the military, immigration, foreign policy and tariffs.
Tariffs
drew Trump's weakest marks, with just 32% approving of his performance on the issue.
The Economist/YouGov survey was conducted Sept. 18-21 among 1,402 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
An unpopular Trump boosts the left
Trump’s slipping approval numbers have placed Democrats in the driver's seat in polls ahead of November’s midterm elections.
According to the latest poll, among likely voters, Democrats have a 14-point advantage over the GOP in a generic congressional ballot. In the 2018 midterm elections, when Trump was in his first term, Democrats beat the GOP in the generic congressional vote by 8.4%, according to RealClear Polling.
Democrats' strength in various polls could be an early sign of a potentially disastrous midterm election season for Republicans who are seeking to maintain control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
A historic week so far
Trump’s week in the polls has not had the best of starts, as the president sank to the lowest approval rating of his political career in Reuters/Ipsos tracking released Monday, Sept. 21.
According to the poll, only 32% of Americans approved of Trump's job performance, a three-point drop from the previous edition of the same poll.
Trump’s 32% approval rating on Monday set a new record low across both of his terms in office. Previously, Trump’s floor had been 33%, which he had reached in December 2017 and held for three weeks in a row this August.
What do polling averages show?
While individual polls vary, major polling averages continue to place Trump in negative territory overall:
- RealClearPolitics (Sept. 22): 39.5% approve, 58.9% disapprove
- New York Times (Sept. 22): 37% approve, 60% disapprove
- Silver Bulletin (Sept. 22): 38% approve, 59.5% disapprove
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump approval rating sinks as Dems lead by double digits
