Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds Trump Approval Rises From Record Low, Republicans’ Midterm Outlook Sours

Approval edges up

A Reuters/Ipsos poll found President Donald Trump’s public approval rating rose from a record low, with 35 per cent of Americans giving Trump a thumbs up for his performance in the White House, up from 33 per cent in an Aug 28 to 31 Reuters/Ipsos poll. The same Reuters/Ipsos poll said 63 per cent of Americans disapproved of Trump’s offer made in his convention speech that he would ensure all Americans get a $5,000 dividend if Republicans retain control of the US Congress in November’s midterm elections. Asked which party they would vote for in a “generic ballot” poll, 44 per cent picked Democrats and 37 per cent picked Republicans, a 7-point gap described as the widest since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll also reported that voters picked Democrats over Republicans as the better stewards of the economy, 38 per cent to 37 per cent, with Democrats gaining that edge over the summer for the first time in about a decade. The poll’s outlook for Republicans was tied to Trump’s war on Iran in February, which Reuters said disrupted oil shipments from the Middle East and pushed fuel prices near record highs, hitting US household finances.

Reporting for this sectionNews24The Straits Times

Midterms and AI

CBS News reported that both Democrats and Republicans see Trump as a motivating factor in midterms, in a CBS News poll finding that framed the election dynamic around Trump’s role.

In parallel, CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten told CNN News Central that Americans “absolutely despise” Trump’s handling of artificial intelligence, pointing to a University of Massachusetts Amherst poll where just 23 percent said Trump handled AI well.

Enten said, “He’s 34 points underwater! My goodness gracious!” and added that independents were especially sour, giving him a -61 net approval rating on AI.

Newsweek reported that Trump downplayed AI safety calls as a “hoax” in a series of posts on Truth Social on Monday, while House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, had not signaled plans for new AI safety policy but teased a meeting with AI executives.

In the same Newsweek account, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X that he is “calling on the Trump admin to provide an all-Senators briefing on the dangers of unchecked AI development” and to explain its lack of action to protect the country.

Reporting for this sectionThe Daily BeastNewsweek

What’s at stake

Reuters said generic ballot polls provide an overall view of which party poll respondents want to see in charge in Congress, while also noting they do not capture state-by-state and district-by-district contests that determine control of the US Senate and House of Representatives. For Republicans, Reuters reported that losing control of either chamber could complicate Trump’s agenda in the last two years of his term, as the poll showed Democrats gaining an edge on the economy with 38 per cent trusting Democrats versus 37 per cent trusting Republicans. The Reuters/Ipsos polling described Trump’s construction projects throughout the US capital, including a ballroom for the White House, as largely polarizing, with 91 per cent of Democrats opposing the plans compared to one in four Republicans who were against them.

On AI, Newsweek said the issue of AI safety catapulted to the forefront of American political discourse after Jacob Coxon, a former AI researcher for Anthropic and OpenAI, warned that “superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources.” Newsweek also reported that Trump questioned on Truth Social whether “did anyone see the Leaders of an Industry call for Regulation that, if strongly implemented, will drive them into oblivion and bankruptcy,” as legislators and AI experts pressed for pacing AI development.

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