Donald Trump’s popularity as president is not at its best. The latest polls show he has a lot of work ahead of the midterms, but that might not really affect him. After the latest polls, from several news outlets, both left and right, saying he’s doing badly, Trump issued a scathing response.
Donald Trump has had a rough first year back in office. While he and his administration claim the nation is doing well on inflation, declining food prices, and more, other issues are hard to hide.
The handling of his crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Epstein files, and the diplomatic crisis surrounding Greenland have not done him well. Therefore, it’s perhaps not too strange that Trump is once again facing difficult numbers in the polls.
Several new surveys show that many Americans are unhappy with how the president is doing his job. While Trump began his second term with stronger support, recent polls suggest more voters are now turning against him.
A January AP-NORC poll found that 59 percent of U.S. adults disapprove of Trump’s performance as president. Only 40 percent said they approve. The poll was conducted through January 8, 2026.
Donald Trump polling numbers hit new low
The same survey also looked at how Americans feel about Trump’s handling of major issues.
On the economy, 37 percent said they approve of his performance, while 62 percent said they disapprove. Immigration showed similar results, with 38 percent approving and 61 percent disapproving. On foreign policy and trade negotiations, approval stood at 37 percent, while 61 percent disapproved in both areas.
The AP-NORC poll noted that all surveys include a margin of error and that results can vary between different groups of people. Meanwhile, other polls show similar results.
A New York Times survey, conducted with Siena University, placed Trump’s approval rating at around 40 percent. Most respondents said they were unhappy with the economy and the direction of the country.
More recent polls place Trump’s approval rating at 45 percent in the Wall Street Journal and 41 percent in the Reuters/Ipsos poll. An average of national polls from RealClearPolitics shows Trump with a 42 percent approval rating, while 55 percent disapprove.
Donald Trump attacks “fake and fraudulent polling” in scathing response
Trump’s approval rating dropped below 50 percent last March and has stayed low since then.
“Support among Republicans has remained strong, but opposition from Democrats has become more fixed,” Republican pollster Daron Shaw told Fox News.
In response to the polling results, Trump has continued to criticize both the media and polling organizations.
In a long post on Truth Social, Trump accused several news outlets — including Fox News — of publishing misleading polls. He also repeated claims about the 2020 election and said polling has been used to influence voters. Trump ended his message with strong words aimed at pollsters and the media:
“Fake and Fraudulent Polling should be, virtually, a criminal offense. As an example, all of the Anti Trump Media that covered me during the 2020 Election showed Polls that were knowingly wrong;” Trump wrote. “They knew what they were doing, trying to influence the Election, but I won in a Landslide, including winning the Popular Vote, all 7 of the 7 Swing States, the Electoral College was a route, and 2,750 Counties to 525. You can’t do much better than that, and yet if people examined The Failing New York Times, ABC Fake News, NBC Fake News, CBS Fake News, Low Ratings CNN, or the now defunct MSDNC, Polls were all fraudulent, and bore nothing even close to the final results.”
The president continued, “Something has to be done about Fraudulent Polling. Even the Polls of FoxNews and The Wall Street Journal have been, over the years, terrible! There are great Pollsters that called the Election right, but the Media does not want to use them in any way, shape, or form. Isn’t it sad what has happened to American Journalism, but I am going to do everything possible to keep this Polling SCAM from moving forward!”
