President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 33%, the lowest ever recorded for him in the ABC News, Washington Post and Ipsos poll. Two in three Americans, 66%, disapprove of the job he is doing, and 52% say they disapprove strongly. The survey was conducted Oct. 9 to 13 among 2,545 adults. It was released Sunday, Oct. 18, with the midterm elections 16 days away.
One comparison stands out. Trump is now lower than he was in this poll after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, when 38% approved. The same poll had him at 39% shortly before his 100th day back in office in April 2025. The slide has been steady, and it has not stopped.
Why is Trump’s approval rating so low right now?
It comes down to what people pay. Only 21% approve of how he is handling the cost of living, while 77% disapprove. On the economy overall, 28% approve, a record low across both of his terms. About 7 in 10 Americans say gasoline is unaffordable and the country is headed in the wrong directions.
The war with Iran is nearly eight months old, and together with tariffs it has pushed prices higher at the pump and the grocery store. In Black neighborhoods from Atlanta to Detroit, where the racial wealth gap leaves families with less cushion for price spikes, that squeeze lands first and hardest. Voters are not grading speeches. They are grading receipts.
Who is winning the midterm race?
Right now, Democrats are. Among likely voters, Democrats lead Republicans 52% to 44% on the generic congressional ballot. Midterms usually work as a referendum on the president. CNBC reported that Republicans privately worry Trump has become a liability. Control of both chambers of Congress is on the line, and a Democratic majority could bring investigations into his administration.
How is Trump responding to the numbers?
He is talking bigger. At a rally Saturday at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Trump told the crowd his second term is far more powerful than his first. He bragged that Google ignored his calls the first time around but now goes out of its way to please him, and he pointed to renaming the Gulf of Mexico as proof of his reach.
He also told supporters the Iran war would end soon and that gas prices would drop below where they were before it started, a promise he has made many times. He repeated his pledge that every adult would get $5,000 if Republicans hold the House and Senate. CNBC noted that plan would likely cost more than $1 trillion and need approval from Congress.
Trump has rejected these surveys before. In a TIME interview published Oct. 1, he called his low ratings fake numbers and said pollsters were corrupt. When this same poll showed weak numbers in April 2025, he posted on Truth Social that pollsters should be investigated for election fraud.
What does a 33% approval rating mean for Nov. 3?
This poll is not an outlier. A Reuters and Ipsos survey taken Sept. 30 to Oct. 5 had Trump at 32%, and a CNN poll from Oct. 8 had him at 33%. The numbers point the same way across pollsters.
Trump’s name is not on the ballot, but his record is. He is betting a louder message can beat the math. Voters get the final word in 16 days.
