President Donald Trump’s approval ratings have declined this week, according to polling analysis from statistician and political analyst Nate Silver’s Silver Bulletin, describing it as a “bad week” for the president.
Trump’s net approval fell from -7.5 to -9.4, hitting -10 earlier in the week, one of the lowest points of his second term. Strong disapproval has risen to 43.4 percent, while strong approval sits at 26.1 percent.
Newsweek contacted Trump’s office for comment via online form on Sunday.
Why It Matters
These figures suggest that the president’s recent policy decisions and the ongoing economic challenges are affecting his public support. As the nation approaches the 2026 midterm elections, these developments could have significant implications for the political climate.
However, Silver notes that these polls traditionally have Trump scoring lower and include recent polling on his approval rating, which has been fairly stagnant recently, but is showing signs of getting lower. Analysts note that while the overall decline may relate to reactions to recent events, individual polls tend to show different levels of support. Silver highlighted that this week’s drop is particularly notable given Trump’s historical approval trends and the approaching midterm elections.
What To Know
Information provided by Silver includes “an updating polling average of Trump’s net approval rating on immigration, the economy, trade, and inflation, accounting for each poll’s quality, recency, sample size, and partisan lean.”
Silver states: “Our default average reflects a combination of all polls, whether conducted among adults, registered voters or likely voters. If a pollster releases multiple versions of the same survey, we use the all-adult version of the poll before the registered voter version. This is because all Americans have a say in how popular the president is—whether or not they vote.”
According to Silver’s data, the proportion of Americans who strongly disapprove of Trump’s performance has risen to 43.4 percent, matching his second-term high. In contrast, just 26.1 percent of Americans strongly approve of him. Meanwhile, his net approval on the four key issues tracked has remained largely unchanged this week: -5.3 on immigration, -15.6 on the economy, -17.3 on trade, and -30 on the cost of living.
Silver attributes this downturn to a combination of factors, including economic concerns and public dissatisfaction with Trump’s handling of key issues, also questioning whether the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live will result in some real movement in Trump’s approval rating.
What People Are Saying
Nate Silver and Silver Bulletin analyst Eli McKown-Dawson: “This has been a bad week for Trump when it comes to the polls.”
Silver wrote in an earlier blog post: “Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen slightly this week after a string of bad polls. What could meaningfully move Trump’s approval rating? One potential answer is tariffs and their impact on the economy.”
The White House said in a post on X, as reported by Newsweek: “NEW POLL. “57.11% of Americans APPROVE of President Trump! MAGA!”
What Happens Next
Political observers will be closely monitoring whether this dip signals the start of a sustained downward trend and how it might affect Republican performance in the 2026 midterms.
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