Trump Approval Sinks to 31% in Reuters/Ipsos, a New Career Low
The president’s standing falls as Democrats open their widest generic ballot lead this election cycle.
President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 31%, the lowest level recorded in Reuters/Ipsos tracking during either of his terms, according to a poll released on Oct. 19.
The decline lands as early voting has begun in several states and as Republicans face an uphill contest to hold slim majorities in Congress. The same survey puts Democrats 12 percentage points ahead of the GOP on the generic congressional ballot, the widest Democratic lead in Reuters/Ipsos tracking this election cycle.
The four-day Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed 1,679 U.S. adults and carries a margin of error of 2 percentage points. Trump’s 31% approval was a one-point dip from his previous career low recorded two weeks earlier.
Other surveys released Oct. 18 paint a similar picture. A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll found Trump’s approval at 33%, a record low for that pollster, down 4 points from July and 8 points from October 2025. That poll also found Democrats were more trusted than Republicans to handle the economy for the first time in a decade.
An NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll released the same day put Trump’s approval at 34%, a second-term low, with 51% of respondents saying they strongly disapproved of his job performance. Among Latino voters, a group that shifted toward Trump in 2024, his approval rating was 31%.
The NBC News/SurveyMonkey survey also found 71% of Americans said the country was on the “wrong track,” up 10 percentage points from a poll in April 2025. Democrats held a 10-point lead over Republicans on the generic congressional ballot in that poll.
Broader polling averages show the same downward movement. As of Monday, Oct. 19, the RealClearPolitics average showed Trump at 38.9% approval and 59.3% disapproval. The New York Times average had him at 37% approval and 61% disapproval, while Nate Silver’s Silver Bulletin average showed 37.5% approval and 59.9% disapproval.
With early voting underway, the new approval figures and the Democratic advantage on the generic ballot mark the latest indicators of the political climate in the run-up to the midterm elections.
Reporting by Reuters/Ipsos via USA Today. Read the original report: Trump approval rating falls to career low in new poll.
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