Trump's Approval Rating Hits New Low of 32% in Two National Polls
Donald Trump’s approval rating stands at 32% in the two newest national polls. The Economist/YouGov poll taken Nov. 9–11 found 32% approve and 63% disapprove. The Reuters/Ipsos poll taken Nov. 6–9 found 32% approve and 65% disapprove. That’s a new low for one of those pollsters but not the other, and both sit below the polling averages. The Trump approval rating in the Silver Bulletin average was 37.6% on Nov. 12. So these two readings are at the low end of a range, not proof of a fresh slide. YouGov interviewed 1,685 US citizens online from its opt-in panel, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 points, according to the poll’s methodology page. In August, YouGov called 33% “the smallest share to ever approve” of Trump in any Economist/YouGov poll across both terms. This week’s 32% goes one point lower, a gap inside the margin of error. USA Today reported the figure as a four-point drop from the week before. That comparison mixes two different groups. The Nov. 4–6 Economist/YouGov poll interviewed only registered voters, 3,166 of them, and found 36% approval. Among the 1,463 registered voters in this week’s sample, approval was also 36%. The fall to 32% comes from adding citizens who aren’t registered, a group where only 21% approve. Reuters/Ipsos found no change at all. Its 32% matches its previous two polls, including the Oct. 29–Nov. 2 survey. Its record low is still 31%, from a poll that closed Oct. 19, Reuters reported at the time. Ipsos ran the Nov. 6–9 poll on its probability-based KnowledgePanel, reaching 1,705 adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 points. Among the registered voters in the newest Ipsos sample, Trump’s approval was 36%, the same as YouGov’s. These are the five most recent national polls we could check against the pollster’s own release. The population matters: polls of all adults tend to come in lower than polls of registered or likely voters. Sources: YouGov, Nov. 9–11 ; Ipsos, Nov. 6–9 ; YouGov, Nov. 4–6 ; John Zogby Strategies ; Ipsos, Oct. 29–Nov. 2 . The simple mean of those five is 35%. The averages, which pool many more polls, run higher. Silver Bulletin, which weights polls by pollster rating, sample size and recency, had Trump at 37.6%, up slightly from its all-time low of 36.3%. USA Today put RealClearPolitics at 38.7% approve and 59.1% disapprove, and The New York Times average at 36% and 61%. Every one of those averages has him at least 20 points underwater. Neither poll asked people why they disapprove of Trump, so neither can show that Iran or tariffs are driving the number down. What they do show is where his ratings are weakest. In the Reuters/Ipsos poll, 26% approve of how Trump is handling Iran and 62% disapprove. Only 25% approve of his handling of the economy, 21% of their cost of living and 19% of inflation. His best issues were immigration at 38% and crime at 37%. The Economist/YouGov poll points the same way. Asked an open question about the most important problem facing the country, 23% named inflation, the top answer. Another 12% named the economy, and 6% named foreign policy. Asked about the war, 63% said the US should end it as quickly as possible even if not all its goals are met, while 21% said keep fighting. On trade, 56% said tariffs on foreign goods should be decreased and 9% said increased. Reuters also reported from the same Ipsos poll that 71% want Congress to pass legislation ending the conflict with Iran, including 51% of Republicans. Another 62% would back repealing Trump’s tariffs. Those questions are held for later release in Ipsos’s topline, so we’re relying on Reuters for them. The war, launched in February, has pushed fuel prices sharply higher, Reuters noted; we covered why gas has now fallen back below $4 . The polls come a week after Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress in the Nov. 3 midterms. Democrats now hold 55 Senate seats after Scott Colom’s win in Mississippi . Ipsos asked what the new Congress should focus on in its first 100 days. Cost-of-living issues topped the list at 78%, and ending the conflict with Iran drew 62%. Investigating the Trump administration drew 39%. On impeachment, 42% told Reuters/Ipsos it would be bad for the country and 33% said good; we’ve explained what a Democratic House can and can’t do . Economist/YouGov polls every week, and its next release will show whether 32% among all citizens holds or was a one-week dip. Watch the registered-voter figure too: it has been 36% in each pollster’s last two releases.
