To be clear: the majority of major polls show that “disapproval” of President Trump is as high as it has ever been since 2022, with a number of recent polls indicating that approximately 59-63 percent of those polled disapprove of how he’s doing as president — while his approval levels are in the high 30’s-low 40’s.
The “new high” refers to what
NBC News Decision Desk (a national polling organization) conducted a national survey of registered voters (as part of its regular polling work) in April 2026, and found that when asked to evaluate Mr. Trump’s performance as president, 64 percent of respondents said they were unhappy with how he was performing, which represented the highest level of disapproval for him during the second year of his second term as president, and the highest overall disapproval rate for this administration.
A poll published on Fox News’ Morning Joe (which measures opinions on politics and government), also indicated that Mr. Trump had received approval from approximately 41 percent of American voters, while a total of 59 percent of those surveyed expressed disapproval for his performance as president. The Fox News poll showed that Mr. Trump’s disapproval rating was higher than it had been at any point during both terms of his presidency.
Newsweek reported on a poll published through Big Data Poll which stated that Mr. Trump’s disapproval rating had reached a peak in his second term. A significant percentage of voters who responded to the Big Data Poll identified themselves as having a negative view of Mr. Trump’s job performance — with the largest percentage being those who disapproved of Mr. Trump’s actions and decisions as president. The article noted that Mr. Trump’s negative net rating was in the negative mid-teens — representing the lowest net rating for Mr. Trump during his second term.
According to a national survey conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News, a total of 39 percent of the respondents expressed approval for Mr. Trump’s job performance — while a total of 60 percent said they disapproved. This represents the highest level of disapproval for Mr. Trump since shortly after January 6th, 2021.
Where do the polling averages lie?
The New York Times aggregates data from various polls into a single estimate of the percentage of U.S. citizens who approve/disapprove of the job that Mr. Trump is doing as president. Currently, Mr. Trump is shown as averaging an approximate 42 percent approval and 55-58 percent disapproval rating as of Spring 2026 — resulting in a clearly negative net approval rating.
Using RealClearPolitics-style aggregating techniques, Newsweek reported that Mr. Trump averaged around a 41 percent approval rating and roughly a 56-57 percent disapproval rating — representing a net -15 point approval margin.
As per CNN’s aggregate “Poll of Polls”, Mr. Trump was estimated to be at an even lower approval rating — in the vicinity of 35-40 percent — and a slightly higher disapproval rating — in the neighborhood of 60 percent. When combining these figures together — Mr. Trump would appear to have a net disapproval margin of approximately -20.
Finally, Nate Silver reports that his own tracking measure indicates that Mr. Trump is averaging a high 30s/low 40s approval rate — combined with an equally high 50s/early 60s disapproval rate — aligning closely with these other estimates.
While there may exist variation across different polls measuring Mr. Trump’s popularity — there appears to be general agreement within polling circles that:
- Approval for Mr. Trump sits somewhere between high 30s/low 40s.
- Disapproval for Mr. Trump sits somewhere between high 50s/mid-60s.
Why is disapproval increasing?
There are certain commonalities in responses across polls that indicate why disapproval has increased:
Economic concerns/inflation: Many polls report that voters believe strongly in regards to price increases and directionally concerning economic issues. For example, Mr. Trump has received negative net ratings in excess of -10 points in several national polls related to inflation and the economy broadly speaking.
Foreign Policy/Iran: Recent polling reports suggest that large majorities disapprove of how Mr. Trump is managing Iran and generally handling foreign affairs — with approximately 30-40 percent approval and approximately 50-65 percent disapproval.
Over-reach/Absence of Transparency: Majorities report that they believe that Mr. Trump has exceeded the bounds of presidential authority, used the Office of the President for personal benefit, and/or failed to provide transparency surrounding investigations affecting high-profile areas.
Demographic shifts: While some recent studies report that support for Mr. Trump has eroded among certain groups that provided support for him in 2024 (younger males, Hispanics, and non-college voters), Republicans continue to express overwhelming support and Democrats continue to express overwhelming opposition.
The trend observed here can best be characterized as growing dissatisfaction, not merely in regard to the way Mr. Trump conducts himself personally — but specifically with respect to his performance on issues (cost of living, international relations).
Durability (Forecast Lens)
The partisan framework remains quite rigid: Republicans remain extremely positive toward him; Democrats extremely negative toward him; Independents lean very negative toward him. The “New High” results from relatively small movements away from his core supporters (independents, soft Republicans), coupled with issue-based back lash (e.g. inflation, Iran) rather than a collapse of his hard core supporters.
Mr. Trump’s historical ratings have been quite stable — therefore moving towards ~60% disapproval suggests a genuine decline in his standing in the middle class electorate — although this could potentially partially reverse itself should conditions improve.
