As President Donald Trump’s approval rating plunges to a historic low of 36 percent, experts have an increasingly dismal assessment of his second administration.
“This is what a crater looks like in politics,” said pollster and political analyst Cornell Belcher. “By every key objective measure this is clearly a failed presidency.”
Trump’s approval rating was already low, but his latest drop is among the sharpest declines of either of his terms. It comes as he confronts a series of crises largely of his own making.
The first is the economy. In 2024, voters overwhelmingly ranked the economy as their top concern — its strongest influence since the Great Recession of 2008. Cost of living skyrocketed in the wake of COVID-19, and while then-President Joe Biden’s administration reduced inflation and rebounded the economy faster than any other nation, a financially rattled electorate voted for Trump thinking his economic approach would outperform that of Kamala Harris, who was widely viewed as a continuation of Biden.
But voter hopes haven’t panned out. Today, only 29 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s economic stewardship, while just 25 percent approve of his handling of the cost of living.
“It’s important that people know that the president feels their pain and that help is on the way,” said Amanda Makki, a Republican political strategist and lawyer.
Trump hasn’t exactly delivered on that, famously making obtuse statements like “maybe the children will have 2 dolls instead of 30” as the economy soured under the weight of his tariffs.
What’s more, the fact that gas prices are approaching record highs not only says something about the Trump economy, but links to the second major reason Americans are displeased with the president: his war on Iran.
Just 35 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s actions in Iran, down from 37 percent a week ago. Only 26 percent agree with Trump’s assertion that the war will make the U.S. safer, and a mere 7 percent support his suggestion of putting boots on the ground. And with gas prices spiking up to a national average just shy of $4 and no clear end in sight to the war, Americans are not happy with how Trump’s military “excursion” is hurting them at the pump.
Trump may dismiss concerns over affordability as a “Democratic hoax,” but voters aren’t buying it.
