President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dipped again, according to a new poll.
The latest Echelon Insights poll, conducted between September 18-22, shows that Trump’s disapproval rating has jumped from 51 percent to 53 percent since last month, while his approval rating is down two points to 45 percent. Overall, his net approval has dropped by four points.
It is the third time in his second term that Trump’s net approval has stood at -8 points.
It is one of many polls that have seen the president’s approval rating drop in recent days.
Why It Matters
Even small shifts in approval ratings can be significant in a closely divided electorate, especially for a polarizing figure like Trump. A sustained decline in approval could signal waning enthusiasm among swing voters or soft support within his own base.
What To Know
Trump has seen his approval ratings fall in recent days. The latest YouGov/Economist poll put his latest approval rating at an all-time low, with 39 percent approving and 57 percent disapproving. The president’s numbers with the pollster last week was 41 percent with a 54 percent disapproval rating.
Newsweek’s tracker currently shows that the president’s net approval rating sits at -10 points, with 44 percent approving and 54 percent disapproving. That is down from -9 points last week and -8 points the week before.
Polls largely suggest that his declining rating is due to dissatisfaction with the economy.
One of Trump’s key campaign promises was to end inflation “on Day One” in office. But the newest update to the consumer price index (CPI), which measures a basket of goods and services, showed that prices were 2.9 percent higher in August compared to last year—the largest increase since January.
That is influenced by tariffs on imports, which have increased consumer prices by about 2.3 percent in the short term.
The Echelon Insights poll shows that Trump’s standing on the economy has slipped further over the past month. In September, just 43 percent approved of his handling of the issue while 54 percent disapproved, leaving him 11 points underwater. That marks a slight decline from August, when his net approval on the economy was already negative at -5.
Trump fares worst on tariffs, where his approval has dropped to 39 percent against 57 percent disapproval in September, leaving him 18 points underwater. And it’s a further plunge from August’s net -12, showing no improvement and underscoring public unease over his trade policies.
The YouGov/Economist poll also showed that Trump’s approval rating on inflation has taken a hit, reaching -34 points, another all-time low. That is down from -30 last week and from +6 at the beginning of his second term.
Meanwhile, over the past two months, the share of Americans who describe the economy as poor has risen from 28 percent to 39 percent. Those who say the economy is fair have dropped from 39 percent to 32 percent, while the share rating it as good has declined from 26 percent to 22 percent.
The latest Fox News/Beacon Research and Shaw poll, conducted between September 6-9 among 1,004 registered voters, showed that by a 22-point margin, more voters say the Trump administration has made the economy worse (52 percent) rather than better (30 percent).
Trump has sought to blame rising inflation on Joe Biden’s presidency.
During a White House event in March, he said the U.S. and its economy “went to hell” under his predecessor.
In the same month, during his national address to Congress, Trump said, “we inherited from the last administration an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare.” When Trump became president in January 2025, the U.S. inflation rate was about 3 percent.
And polls suggest that message no longer resonates with voters. The latest Cygnal poll, published this week, showed that more Americans blame Republicans than Democrats for rising inflation.
Peter Loge, director of George Washington University’s Project on Ethics in Political Communication, told Newsweek the latest polling on the economy is “bad news for Republicans” ahead of the 2026 midterms.
“Inflation hurts presidents. A lot of voters use elections to punish people who they think are failing. Elections are ways to fire the people in charge if voters don’t like what’s going on, Loge said.
“Many people view politics like plumbing, they just want it to work. If your sink is leaking, you don’t hire three plumbers who stand around and argue about PVC piping. If your sink is leaking, you hire a plumber to fix it. If the plumber doesn’t fix it, you fire them and hire a new plumber,” he said.
“Economic news has been bad all year and is getting worse. Fairly or not, that’s bad news for Republicans because Republicans are in charge.”
What Happens Next
Political strategists and pollsters say sustained sub-majority approval ratings can harm the sitting president’s party in midterm elections by motivating opposition turnout and complicating messaging for swing-district Republican candidates.