Trump’s approval ratings endure a cruel summer

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Trending on The Hill - August 27, 2026

Trending on The Hill - August 27, 2026

President Trump is enduring a difficult summer in public opinion polls, with his falling approval rating deepening concerns for Republicans that they could lose the House and Senate majorities this fall.

Trump has hit record lows in various polls, including a 33 percent approval rating in a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week.

In the latest Economist/YouGov survey, Trump is exiting August with a 33 percent approval rating, a new low for him in that poll.

Trump’s polling in the Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) average did see a slight increase Thursday, reaching 39.2 percent.

Still, this average marked the second-lowest released by DDHQ since May, when Trump averaged 38 percent. The polling average also found that 57.5 percent disapproved of the president.

DDHQ chief elections analyst Geoffrey Skelley told The Hill that Trump’s low polling across the board is largely due to his handling of the economy, which had been among his strongest issues entering both terms, and the unpopularity of the Iran war.

“That to me looms as a big problem, not because it’s foreign policy necessarily,” Skelley said. “It’s because of the domestic impact and how it connects to people’s economic frustrations, and the fact that’s playing into that is, I think, the big concern on that front.”

That is a problem for GOP candidates on the ballot for the House and the Senate this year.

DDHQ is projecting that Democrats will retake the House majority in November, putting the odds at 67 percent. The GOP has a 52 percent chance of retaining the Senate majority despite Trump’s poor numbers, per DDHQ.

Democrats would need to gain four seats to win back the Senate, which seemed like a tall order at the beginning of the year. Now. Democrats think the majority is in reach, in large part because of the lack of wind in Trump’s sails as reflected in public opinion polls.

Skelley noted the Democratic optimism in his comments, saying Democrats are “extremely animated.” He said the figures have Democrats thinking their voters will be more motivated to come out and vote this fall in midterm elections that generally have a lower turnout than........

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