Trump’s approval sank to 32% in CNN’s new poll, 7 points below where he stood before the 2018 midterms that handed Democrats 41 House seats

President Donald Trump’s approval ratings hit new lows in a pair of polls released on Wednesday, less than two weeks before Election Day. As detailed by Politico, the surveys arrive as Republicans head into the final stretch of the midterm campaign.

A CNN/SSRS poll put the president’s approval at 32 percent, seven points lower than where he stood before the 2018 midterm elections. In those elections, Democrats netted 41 seats and took back control of the House.

A second survey from The New York Times found that just 36 percent of likely voters approve of the president’s performance, while 59 percent disapprove. It is Trump’s lowest approval rating in any Times survey conducted with Siena across his two terms.

The cost of living and the Iran war are weighing on his numbers

Voters are broadly unhappy with the president’s handling of the cost of living, and the ongoing war in Iran is also broadly unpopular. The numbers signal real trouble for Republicans, who have little time left to turn things around.

Trump’s unpopularity has also cut into some of the gains he made among key demographics in the 2024 election. These include men, younger voters, and Hispanic voters.

Even among white voters without a college degree, a group that has been a strong base for Trump and the Republican Party, the numbers are tight. The Times survey shows 48 percent of that group approve of his job performance, while 46 percent disapprove.

Trump’s standing with that group has shifted over the past year. As reported by Newsweek in April, a CNN/SSRS poll conducted in late March put his approval among white non-college voters at 49 percent, with 50 percent disapproving, marking the first time he was underwater with the group in his second term.

Early in his second term, the same group gave him far stronger marks. A CNN poll conducted in February 2025 showed 63 percent of white non-college voters approving of Trump, compared with 37 percent who disapproved.

Other national polls showed a similar trend earlier this year. A Fox News poll conducted in March 2026 found Trump at 49 percent approval and 51 percent disapproval among registered voters, down from a 58 percent to 42 percent advantage a year earlier.

The White House pushed back on the polling at the time. Spokesperson Davis Ingle told Newsweek that “the ultimate poll was November 5, 2024,” when nearly 80 million Americans voted to elect Trump.