U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the signing ceremony for an execituve order on mail ballots, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., March 31, 2026. REUTERS Evan Vucci
For years, President Donald Trump got no end of pleasure from using former president Jimmy Carter’s perceived economic failures as a cudgel to beat the Democratic president. But these days Trump has a much smaller stick to swing.
The latest poll conglomerate delivered no good news for President Donald Trump or his Republican Party, and CNN Harry Enten could not stop being shocked by how drastic Trump’s numbers have fallen.
“This trend line is atrocious,” Enten said, pointing to a string of ominously red numbers with Trump’s photo next to it.
“… [D]own he goes,” Enten whooped to CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, while gesturing to Trump’s net approval rating on the economy. “It’s now at -32 points … nearly 40 points from where he was at the beginning of his second term. This is the worst rating in the average of polls that Donald Trump has ever had on such a key issue for him.”
“When I saw this -32 number I thought, ‘hmm, this seems really low from a historical perspective.’ So, I decided to go back into the history books and decided to say, ‘okay, what are the worst net approval ratings at any point in any term or at this point in any term on the economy? And guess who ranks at the bottom of the list for the worst net approval rating at this point in any term? It's this guy on the screen: Donald John Trump at -32 points. That's worse than Joe Biden was at -25 points. Worse than George W. Bush at -25 points, and worse than James Earl Carter back in 1978 at -22 points.”
Bush and Carter both exited the White House amid rotten economies that either drove them from the Capitol, or severely punished their respective parties.
“Donald Trump taking the cake in a historic way and in a way, simply put, that you don't want to do so,” Enten finished.