USAupdated 1h ago2 min read
Archive photo · 26 May 2026Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds Trump Approval Near Record Low Ahead Of 2026 Midterms
“brutal final round of polling has humiliated President Donald Trump”
“A historically unpopular Republican president, an American public unhappy with the rising costs of food and bills”
Photo: The Bushranger, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
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Trump's Reuters/Ipsos approval at 32%, near record low ahead of midterms. Democrats maintain about an 11-point lead in voter preferences per Reuters/Ipsos poll.
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Approval, generic ballot
President Donald Trump’s approval rating held near a record low as a Reuters/Ipsos poll found 46% of registered voters would pick Democrats in congressional elections versus 38% who would pick Republicans in a “generic ballot” question. Trump’s approval rating rose to 32% in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, a slight rebound from a record low in the previous survey, while Democrats maintained an 11-point advantage in voter preferences ahead of the midterm elections. The Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed more than 1,600 U.S. adults and found the Democrats’ 11-point lead over Republicans in midterm election preferences narrowed by 1 percentage point from the previous week’s record high.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed 1,765 US adults online and reported Trump’s approval at 32%, while the poll also found 50% of independents said their vote was a vote against Trump and 13% said it was a vote for Trump. An NBC News poll found 60% of respondents did not approve of Trump’s job performance, while Trump’s approval rating hit 40%.
House and Senate stakes
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 Senate seats would be up for grabs on Tuesday, November 3, as nearly 250 million voters were called to choose their representatives. Republicans held only a slim majority of 219 seats against 214 for the Democrats, and Decision Desk HQ estimated an 80% chance that the Democrats would regain the majority. Decision Desk HQ estimated Monday that Democrats had an 84 percent chance of winning the House and a 64 percent probability they’ll take the Senate.
The Democrats could retake the House with 52% of voting intentions and an 84% chance of success, while the Senate race looked tighter with 35 of the 100 seats up for election. The Reuters/Ipsos poll results underscored Republican vulnerabilities tied to a surge in fuel prices since Trump launched a war on Iran in February.
What happens next
The Democratic Party had high expectations as it headed into the midterm elections, with Democratic candidates leading in well over the 218 seats needed to flip control of the lower chamber of Congress.
Steve Kornacki said, “So by this metric, he is in worse shape heading into his second midterm than into his first one,” as Kornacki compared Trump’s approval in 2018 to the current 26% approval.
Kornacki said, “Barely one quarter of voters say they are satisfied with it,” referring to Trump’s handling of the economy, and it added that “Almost three quarters say they’re dissatisfied.”
Trump warned in a “Pod Force One” interview that he will be “Mr. Veto” if Democrats win control of Congress.
AtlasIntel’s November 1 survey found 40 percent of Americans have a positive image of Trump and Biden, compared with 54 percent for Obama, and it reported Trump’s negative rating at 58 percent compared with Biden’s 54 percent and Obama’s 44 percent.