Key Points – President Donald Trump’s approval ratings are slowly recovering from April’s tariff turmoil but remain underwater, with a 45.3% approval against 50.7% disapproval, per RealClearPolitics.
-Though economic indicators improved slightly, his handling of trade policy remains unpopular.
-Trump recently made moves designed to boost ratings, including a preliminary trade agreement with China, securing the release of the last American hostage in Gaza, and announcing plans to cut drug prices dramatically.
-Yet, his executive authority to impose drug price controls remains unclear.
Trump Has a Polling Problem
As U.S. President Donald J. Trump eyes retaining Congressional control in the 2026 midterms, the effectiveness of these populist moves remains to be seen.
Donald Trump’s polling isn’t quite as bad as it was during the low of the tariff chaos throughout April. But the president’s approval rating remains underwater, according to the latest polls.
According to the RealClearPolling average on Monday morning, Trump’s approval rating is at an average of 45.3 percent, while his disapproval rating is 50.7 percent, for a negative spread of 5.4.
Things were worse for Trump a couple of weeks earlier, with the spread going as wide as 7.1 in late April, but he remains underwater.
Individual Polls
In the latest batch of polls, Morning Consult has Trump at -6, while Rasmussen has him at +1, as does the Big Data Poll. Quantus Insights and RMG Research both have Trump’s approval and disapproval ratings evenly, but the most recent Economist/YouGov poll has Trump at a spread of -8.
Further down the table, though, many of the polls in late April had Trump underwater by double digits.
Some of Trump’s Polls ‘Reached a New Low’
When one looks at that Morning Consult poll, released last week, while the 46 percent approval rating is a 1-point increase over the previous poll, his disapproval rating remained unchanged from 52 percent in the previous edition of the poll.
However, at the start of Trump’s second term, it was nearly the opposite, with 52 percent approving and 45 percent disapproving.
When it comes to the issue of trade, Trump has reached a new low, with 42 percent of respondents approving of his handling of that issue and 49 percent disapproving.
However, in that survey, impressions of Trump’s handling of the economy have improved, following a positive job report and a stock market that improved by the end of April.
Also in that poll? Even as Congress weighs Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” and its promise of tax cuts, that isn’t an issue that voters are prioritizing.
“Less than 1 in 4 voters (24%) say that [tax cuts] should be a top priority for the Trump administration, slightly higher than the shares who say the same of tech regulation (22%) or imposing tariffs (21%),” the Morning Consult poll writeup says.
“Voters are divided over whom they trust more to handle taxes, with 45% aligning with congressional Democrats and 43% expressing confidence in congressional Republicans.”
More Popular Measures on the Way?
Politico reported this week that Trump is “obsessed” with the midterm elections and the possibility that he might keep control of both houses of Congress after the midterms in 2026, which are more than 18 months away. Trump lost control of the House in the midterms of first presidency, in 2018, leading to his two impeachments during the second half of that presidency.
In the last week, Trump has announced several actions that appeared likely to improve his approval ratings in the short term, starting with the announcement of what appears to be an interim trade deal with China, which will at least push tariff chaos further into the future.
Trump, on Sunday, announced that a deal had been reached to free Edan Alexander, an American citizen and Israeli soldier who had been held in Gaza since October 7, thus freeing the last remaining American hostage in Gaza, while opening a path towards ending the region’s 18-month war.
Trump also announced plans to lower prescription drug prices via an executive order, although in doing so, he did not articulate how exactly he will assert the power to do so.
“Basically, what we’re doing is equalizing,” Trump said Monday when he introduced the policy, as reported by CNBC. “We are going to pay the lowest price there is in the world. We will get whoever is paying the lowest price, that’s the price that we’re going to get.”
Even if the plan is completely unworkable, Trump will put his opponents in a position to appear that they’re arguing in favor of higher drug prices.
About the Author:
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
Beyond Trump
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