Donald Trump’s approval rating has slipped to 35%, while 61% of Americans now say they disapprove of his job performance, leaving him with a net approval of -25 in the latest Economist / YouGov Poll.
That puts him just above his lowest point in either of his terms, and it is the kind of number that gets searched because it captures, in one snapshot, where he stands right now. Only 20% of Americans strongly approve of his job performance, while 51% strongly disapprove, a split that shows the depth of the drag behind the topline figure.
The poll also puts Trump behind where Joe Biden was at this stage of his presidency, when Biden’s net approval stood at -14. Biden later fell as low as -23 on several occasions in his final year in office, but Trump’s -25 is still worse than either of those marks and lower than the support he held among Republicans at this point in his first term.
The weakness is sharper outside his core backers. Among Independents, 71% disapprove and just 21% approve, giving Trump a net approval of -51, his worst ever with that group. Among Independents who lean toward the Democratic Party, the numbers are nearly total rejection, with net approval at -99. Even among Republican-leaning Independents, where 66% approve and 30% disapprove, the margin is far softer than what Trump can count on inside MAGA ranks.
The same poll points to a broader trust problem. Sixty percent of Americans say Trump is using his office for personal gain, while 27% say he is not. Republicans are sharply divided from that national view, with 66% saying he is not using his office for personal gain, and 81% of Republican MAGA supporters saying the same. That split suggests his standing is still being propped up by loyalty from his base even as it erodes elsewhere.
The poll also asked about the new Air Force One color scheme, and that question lands in the same political fault line: 36% of Americans prefer the new design, while 25% prefer the old blue-and-white look. Republicans break heavily toward the new scheme, while Democrats lean toward the old one. But the approval numbers matter more than the paint, because they show Trump near the floor of his own presidency and still struggling to widen support beyond his most reliable voters.
