US President Donald Trump's approval rating has hit a new low, with Americans particularly unhappy about the economy and cost of living, according to two polls released this week.
An AP-Norc survey shows that 65 per cent of US adults say higher-than-usual prices are the result of Mr Trump’s policies. This is compared to October 2022, under predecessor Joe Biden, when 44 per cent of the public said higher prices were due to presidential policies.
More than half – 52 per cent – of Republicans surveyed view President Trump as falling short of expectations on the cost of living.
According to non-partisan fact-checking site Politifact, most types of consumer goods have increased in price since Mr Trump began his second term in January 2025.
In addition, 71 per cent of those surveyed disapprove of how Mr Trump is handling Iran, and 69 per cent say the war has not been worth fighting.
The Iran war has become a major issue for American voters, as many see it as having helped to drive up prices for necessities such as petrol. Mr Trump has said several times that the war, now in its eighth month, will end “very soon”.
A separate poll by Quinnipiac University found that 61 per cent of voters disapprove of the way Mr Trump is handling his job as president, while 34 per cent of voters approve.
The figures match a previous all-time high disapproval rating for Mr Trump recorded in January 2021.
On Iran, the Quinnipiac poll showed that only 28 per cent of those surveyed approve of Mr Trump's handling of the conflict, while 66 per cent disapprove.
Similar to the AP-Norc poll, voters surveyed by Quinnipiac felt Mr Trump was not handling the economy well, with only 31 per cent approving and 65 per cent disapproving.
The polls comes weeks ahead of the midterm elections in November. Mr Trump and his Republicans face a crucial test in the midterms, which essentially serve as a public referendum on how the president is doing.
The sitting president's party almost always suffers a loss of congressional seats in midterms, but losses tend to be much steeper when the president is unpopular.
According to Gallup, presidents with job approval ratings below 50 per cent have seen their party lose 37 House seats, on average, in midterm elections.
In the 2018 midterms, during his previous term in office, Mr Trump lost a total of 40 seats. His approval rating at that time hovered between 40 and 44 per cent.
