(The Hill) — President Donald Trump’s approval rating reached its lowest point 10 months into his second term and the lowest since he left office in 2021, according to a new survey.
The Gallup poll, released on Friday, shows Trump’s approval rating sitting at 36 percent, with 60 percent disapproving of how he’s handled the job since returning to the Oval Office in January. The number is one point lower than where it was in July, though the pollster showed the president stable between 40 percent and 41 percent in the months in between.
His lowest Gallup score — 34 percent — came following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack at the end of his first term.
Though Democrats overwhelmingly disapprove of Trump’s handling of the presidency, approval among Republicans and independents also saw a decline. Since late October, Republicans’ approval has dropped by seven points to 84 percent, while 25 percent of independents approve of the president, down from 33 percent in October.
Across a spectrum of issues, Trump’s approval varies from the low 40s to the high 30s. He received the highest approval, 43 percent, for his handle on crime. Another 41 percent said they approve of his handling of foreign affairs and 39 percent approve of his trade agenda, the poll found.
The president’s approval rating on immigration and the economy is also low, sitting at 37 percent and 36 percent, respectively. His lowest approval was on health care policy, at 30 percent, according to the survey.
“Each of the current ratings is in line with the prior ones, but there has been a significant erosion in approval since February for Trump’s handling of immigration (-9 points), the situation in the Middle East (-7 points) and the economy (-6 points),” Gallup researchers wrote. “Since March, Trump’s ratings have declined by double digits on the federal budget (-12 points) and the situation in Ukraine (-10 points).”
On his handling of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, Trump garnered 33 percent approval from the respondents. His rating over his response to the war between Russia and Ukraine stands at 31 percent.
“The longest shutdown of the federal government, election losses for the Republican Party and continued concerns about affordability appear to have damaged Trump’s standing with the American people in November, especially Republicans and independents,” the pollsters noted.
While Trump has reversed course on the Republican messaging on affordability and since called the issue a “con job by the Democrats,” rising costs were at the forefront of the Nov. 5 elections that saw several Democrats win elected positions across the country.
Trump has escalated his attacks on the press as polls show a decline in support. Earlier this month, the president told an ABC News reporter “Quiet, piggy” while she asked about the Justice Department’s impending release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Following the shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, he repeatedly called a female reporter “a stupid person” when asked about the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FBI’s previous vetting of an Afghan man, who now faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with the shooting.
Gallup noted that the combined effect of Republican losses in the 2025 elections and Trump’s declining approval rating “could be a sign of trouble for Republicans in next year’s midterm elections, when the GOP will try to maintain full control of the federal government.”
The survey was conducted Nov. 3-25 and included 1,321 respondents. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.