Trump's approval rating hits record low in poll as midterms near
Trump's approval rating hits record low in poll as midterms near
Jay Stahl, USA TODAYSun, October 18, 2026 at 12:57 PM UTC
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President Donald Trump's approval rating hit a new low in a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll with weeks until the midterm elections that will test the strength of the GOP's agenda.
The survey, released Oct. 18, found 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s job performance while 66% disapprove.
It's Trump's lowest mark in the outlets' polling, down from 37% approval in April and July surveys. The results nearly mirror a Fox News poll released Oct. 14 that marked the lowest approval rating for Trump in the right-leaning network's polling during either of his terms.
Fifty-two percent of respondents in the Post-ABC poll said they strongly disapprove of Trump.
The results come just over two weeks until the midterm elections on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Midterm elections are historically challenging for the party with a president in power. Democrats netted 41 House seats in the 2018 midterms in a "blue wave" and picked up two Senate seats in Arizona and Nevada during Trump's first term.
This year, Republicans face a competitive Senate map in a number of states including Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Texas, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
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The economy, the Iran war and its impact on Americans' finances are top of mind for voters across the country − and many have blamed Trump and Republicans in recent polls. Around 3 in 4 Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of the cost of living and inflation in the Post-ABC survey.
For the first time in over a decade, Democrats are seen as more trustworthy on the economy than Republicans, according to the poll, at 40%-33%. Democrats also wield an eight-point lead for control of the House with registered voters, a five-point jump since the Post’s July poll showed a three-point advantage.
Registered voters also said they would choose Democrats, by 58% to 39%, over Republicans, to act as a check on Trump's White House. That margin has roughly doubled from one year ago.
And the number of Americans who say the country is heading in the wrong direction (72%) has leaped five points since April.
The poll was conducted Oct. 9-13 among 2,545 U.S. adults. The overall margin of error is +/- 2 percentage points for all adults and +/- 2.2 percentage points for registered and likely voters.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's approval rating hits record low in poll as midterms near
Source: “AOL Breaking”
