Disapproval of President Trump has climbed to the highest level of his second term, according to The New York Times polling average, which found that 58 percent of Americans disapprove of the president’s job performance while only 39 percent approve.
That is the highest disapproval rating Mr. Trump has faced since the end of his first term, in the aftermath of his re-election campaign loss and the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Mr. Trump’s weakening poll numbers come as the war in Iran has sharply driven up gas prices, and as a growing number of Americans are expressing concerns about the economy. Many Democrats are trying to make the midterm elections a referendum on Mr. Trump’s presidency, and some of Mr. Trump’s former allies in the conservative media, including Tucker Carlson, have turned against him in recent days.
A Marquette University Law School poll taken last week found Mr. Trump’s approval rating has dipped to 28 percent among political independents, down from 39 percent when he took office. Among Republicans the president has also lost some ground, though the vast majority of the party — 80 percent — still approve of his job performance.
Taken together, the Times polling average shows that Mr. Trump now has a net approval rating — approval minus disapproval — of negative 19 percentage points, as of Thursday.
Approval ratings can move around from day to day as new polls update our understanding of how the American public is feeling about the president, but Mr. Trump has experienced several weeks of weakening poll numbers.
Concern about the economy is reaching a fever pitch. Seven in ten voters now say that the economy is getting worse for them and their families, up from 55 percent just one year ago in a recent Fox News poll. Economic anxiety is also up sharply with the president’s base. Nearly half of Republicans now say the economy is getting worse, double the share who said the same last April.
This comes as Mr. Trump’s approval on the economy stands at 34 percent and his approval on handling inflation at just 28 percent. Voters are far more likely to approve of how he has been handling immigration and the border. Nearly half of all voters — 46 percent — approve of Mr. Trump’s immigration policy.
