Trump Approval Rating Hits Another Low—Voters Favor Biden’s Economy

April 28Trump’s 42% approval rating is his lowest in the past year and down one point from March, according to an April Harvard CAPS/HarrisX poll, which found support for his actions in Iran is growing, despite concern across both parties about rising gas prices (the online survey of 2,745 registered voters was taken April 23-26 and has a margin of error of 2).

Eight-five percent of voters are concerned that higher gas prices will lead to an increase in the cost of living, and just over half (52%) of voters say the economy is worse under Trump than it was under President Joe Biden.

Contrary to most other polls, the survey found 52% support U.S. airstrikes against Iran.

A plurality, 35%, say the war has no clear direction, but back the U.S.’s efforts to force Iran to give up its enriched uranium.

April 28Trump’s approval rating dropped one point, to 37%, and his disapproval rating increased five points, to 59%, in the Economist/YouGov’s weekly survey of 1,836 U.S. adults taken April 24-27 (margin of error 3.2), compared to last week’s survey.

April 27Trump’s 44%/53% approval/disapproval rating in Morning Consult’s weekly poll was unchanged from last week.

His approval rating among Republicans remains strong at 86% with six months until the midterm election, though 64% of independents disapprove of his job performance (the poll of 2,201 registered votes was taken April 24-27 and has a margin of error of 2).

April 19Only 37% of adults had a positive view of Trump’s presidency, according to an NBC News poll, a new low for the network’s in-house polls, while a 63% majority disapproved of his job performance.

The same poll found most respondents disapproved of how Trump has handled the war in Iran, with 54% strongly disapproving in addition to another 13% who somewhat disapproved.

A majority of respondents also disapproved of the way Trump was handling economic issues like inflation and cost of living as the Iran war drives up prices for gasoline and other products, with 52% strongly disapproving—up from 44% strong disapproval when this poll was taken in April last year.

March 31Trump’s average approval rating fell below 40% in both the New York Times poll tracker and Nate Silver’s Silver Bulletin, a low point for his second term, which he began with an average approval rating above 50%.

His average remains slightly above 41% in RealClearPolitics’ poll average.

The decline comes as Trump is considering sending ground troops to Iran, an operation that would be widely unpopular, even with Republicans, according to polls, and as the conflict is expected to stretch beyond the six-week timeline the Trump administration initially gave for the war.

March 30Trump’s approval rating dropped three points, to 43%, from February in the March Harvard CAPS/Harris poll, as the share of voters who say the country is on the right track has declined three points, the share of voters who say the economy is on the right track has declined six points and the share of voters who say their financial situation has worsened is up five points.

The poll of 2,009 registered voters was taken March 25-26 and has a 2-point margin of error.

March 25A Quinnipiac University poll found 38% of voters approve of Trump’s job performance and 56% disapprove, a slight improvement from his 37%/57% approval/disapproval rating in the group’s poll released March 9 (the survey of 1,191 registered voters was taken March 19-23 and has a 3.6-point margin of error).

The majority of voters, 54%, oppose the military action in Iran and 39% support it.

March 25Trump’s approval rating increased two points, to 38%, and his disapproval rating dropped two points, to 60%, in the latest Associated Press/NORC poll, that found a stark partisan divide on opinions of the Iran war, with 90% of Democrats, 63% of independents and just 26% of Republicans saying the U.S. military operations in Iran have “gone too far.”

Overall, 59% of respondents said the war has gone too far (the survey of 1,150 adults was conducted March 19-23 and has a margin of error of 4).

March 24Trump’s 43% approval rating in Morning Consult’s weekly poll is the same as last week and down one point since the start of the Iran war (the latest survey of 2,202 registered voters was conducted March 20-22 and has a margin of error of 2).

His approval rating is down significantly since the start of his second term, when a record 52% approved of his job performance, according to Morning Consult polling, and it’s one point higher than it was during this point in his first term.

March 24Trump’s approval rating fell to a record low of 36%, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday, a four-point decline from his approval rating last week and down 11 points from his 47% approval rating at the start of his second term (the latest poll of 1,272 U.S. adults was conducted March 20-23 and has a margin of error of 3).

Approval of Trump’s strikes on Iran were down two points from last week, to 35%.

Gas prices have gone up 34%, to $3.98 a gallon on average nationally, since the war began on Feb. 28, according to AAA.

March 20Among Trump supporters who identify as “MAGA,” 81% said they support the U.S. military operations in Iran, according to a Politico survey, while 61% of “non-MAGA” Trump supporters back the strikes (the poll of 3,851 was taken March 13-18 and has a margin of error of 1.6).

Some prominent right-wing figures, including Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have splintered with Trump over the war, arguing it goes against his “America First” philosophy and violates his campaign promises not to enter into any new wars.

March 19Trump’s approval rating remains stable, at 40%, in a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken March 17-19, a one-point increase from the groups’ poll taken just after the war began (the latest survey of 1,545 U.S. adults has a margin of error of 3).

The poll found 55% oppose sending troops to Iran, yet 65% believe Trump will—he said Thursday, “we’re not putting troops anywhere,” when asked about the deployment of 2,200 Marines to the Middle East.

March 10An Economist/YouGov poll conducted March 6-9 found Trump’s approval rating has increased two points, to 40%, since the groups’ previous poll taken Feb. 27-March 2, while his disapproval rating has decreased four points, to 55% (the latest poll of 1,563 U.S. adults has a margin of error of 3.4).

That’s despite 52% saying they disapprove of the way Trump is handling the situation in Iran and 56% saying he should have first sought Congress’ approval, though 54% said they were not surprised he ordered the strikes.

Meanwhile, a New York Times analysis of polls taken in the initial days of nine other U.S. military interventions dating back to World War II found fewer Americans support the U.S. military action in Iran (41%) than all of the other conflicts.

The Libya Intervention in 2011 was the only other conflict to receive less than majority support (47%), according to The Times analysis.

The findings are the latest to show the majority disapprove of Trump’s handling of the Iran conflict, though it hasn’t changed his overall standing with voters: in The New York Times’ poll tracker, Trump’s 41% approval rating is unchanged since Feb. 28, and it’s decreased less than one point in Nate Silver’s poll tracker.

March 9Thirty-seven percent of voters approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president in the latest Quinnipiac poll conducted March 6-8, while 57% disapprove, largely consistent with Trump’s approval rating in February (the latest poll of 1,002 registered voters has a margin of error of 3.8).

Fifty-three percent oppose the U.S. military action against Iran, and 40% support it, while 55% do not think Iran posed an imminent military threat to the U.S. and 39% think it did, the poll found.