Donald Trump’s approval rating is back near the bottom of his second term. The latest Economist / YouGov Poll found that 36% of Americans approved of his job performance, while 60% disapproved, leaving him with a net rating of -24.
That is the kind of number that explains why this poll is drawing attention now. Trump is not just underwater; he is close to the lowest net approval he has recorded in his second term, a level that signals broad resistance to how he is handling the job rather than a temporary dip in one issue area.
The poll also shows that the weakness extends beyond overall approval. On crime, one of the core issues for Trump, 41% approved of his handling of it and 49% disapproved, for a net score of -8. That is down sharply from +12 at the start of his second term, a sign that even on a subject where he has tried to project strength, the balance has moved against him.
The personal ratings are harsher still. Sixty percent of Americans said Trump is not honest and trustworthy, 58% said he does not have the temperament to be president, and 62% said he does not care about people like them much or at all. Yet the same poll found a split that captures his hold on part of the electorate: 52% said he mostly says what he believes, while 34% said he says what he thinks people want to hear.
That mix matters because it shows the problem for Trump is not only whether voters believe him, but whether they like what they think they know about him. Just 24% called him honest, while 52% called him dangerous, 49% called him corrupt, and 45% called him racist. At the same time, 43% described him as bold and 36% as strong, which helps explain why his support does not collapse even when his approval remains low.
There is one more sign of the pressure around him. Registered voters preferred the Democrat over the Republican by 46% to 41% in the House vote choice test, suggesting Trump’s weak standing is not staying confined to a pollster’s approval question. It is bleeding into the political map around him.
Put together, the numbers point to a president who is still commanding attention but not broad approval. Unless those ratings improve, Trump enters the next stretch of his term with the same problem that has haunted him throughout it: enough support to remain central, but not enough to look politically secure.
