Trump approval rating slides to new second-term low in latest poll

Trump’s Approval Rating Reaches a New Low in Marquette Poll

Cybersecarmor.com – President Donald Trump’s standing with the public has slipped to its lowest point of his second White House term in new polling from Marquette University Law School. The survey, released Tuesday, Sept. 15, put Trump’s job approval at 37%, a three-point decline from the organization’s July measure.

The result marks the weakest approval figure recorded by Marquette since Trump returned to office in early 2025. His prior low in that tracking was 38% in June. The newest survey was conducted from Sept. 2 through Sept. 9 and included 1,023 U.S. adults. Its margin of error was 3.3 percentage points.

Intense Approval Has Also Fallen

The decline is not limited to Trump’s overall approval number. The share of Americans expressing strong approval has dropped steadily over the course of his second term. At its beginning, 29% of respondents said they strongly approved of the president’s performance. That figure has since fallen to 15%.

Approval ratings can shift from poll to poll because of timing, sample composition and current events. Still, the Marquette results point to broader difficulties for Trump as voters assess his handling of major domestic and international concerns. The latest survey showed lower approval than in July across eight issue areas: border security, immigration, foreign policy, tariffs, the economy, the war with Iran, gasoline prices, and inflation.

Border security and immigration have historically been among Trump’s stronger issues, but both lost ground in the new survey. Approval of his handling of border security moved below 50%. Public views were especially negative on everyday economic costs: just 19% approved of Trump’s performance on inflation and the cost of living, while 20% approved of his handling of gas prices.

Gas Prices Remain Part of the Economic Picture

Fuel costs have become a visible part of the public’s broader concern about affordability. On Wednesday, the nationwide average price for a gallon of gasoline was $4.36, an increase of 14 cents from a week earlier and more than $1 higher than in September 2025, as measured by the American Automobile Association.

Prices at the pump do not reflect a single presidential decision; they can be affected by global oil markets, refinery capacity, supply disruptions, seasonal demand and regional taxes. But gasoline remains one of the expenses many households encounter most directly, making it an important political indicator when voters judge economic conditions.

Inflation and living costs can have a similar effect. Even when broader economic measures tell a mixed story, voters often focus on what they pay for housing, food, transportation and other regular necessities. The low issue ratings in the Marquette poll suggest that those concerns are weighing heavily on Trump’s overall standing.

Democrats Gain Ground in Generic Congressional Matchups

The survey also offered favorable signs for Democrats heading toward November’s midterm elections. Among likely voters, Democrats held a 13-point advantage over Republicans in a generic congressional ballot. That represented a seven-point improvement from July, when Democrats led by six points.

Among registered voters, Democrats were ahead by 12 points. Their July advantage in that group had been only two points, making the movement in the newer poll particularly notable. Republican support in the generic congressional contest declined by four percentage points compared with Marquette’s July survey.

A generic congressional ballot asks voters which party they would prefer to control Congress rather than asking about a specific candidate. It is not a forecast of every House or Senate race, since campaigns, local candidates, state political conditions and district boundaries all influence the final results. Even so, a wide national party preference gap can signal a difficult environment for the party holding the presidency.

For Democrats, the results indicate an opportunity to connect dissatisfaction with the administration to congressional races. For Republicans, the survey underscores the importance of persuading voters who remain uneasy about prices, economic management and Trump’s leadership on issues that have typically been political strengths.

Another Poll Offered a Modest Improvement

Trump received a somewhat better reading in a separate Reuters/Ipsos survey released Monday, Sept. 14. That poll placed his approval rating at 35%, up two percentage points from its earlier editions.

The small increase followed three consecutive weeks in which Reuters/Ipsos recorded Trump’s lowest approval figures since his 2025 return to the presidency. Yet the improvement in his personal rating did not translate into stronger results for Republicans in that poll’s generic congressional ballot. Democrats led the GOP by seven points there, the largest gap measured in that survey since the start of Trump’s second term.

The differing numbers illustrate why individual polls should be viewed with care. Separate surveys can produce different results while still showing a similar overall direction. In this case, both the Marquette and Reuters/Ipsos findings showed Trump with approval below the level of public disapproval and Democrats ahead in the national congressional preference question.

With the midterms approaching, the central test for both parties will be whether these national attitudes persist. Trump’s ability to improve public confidence on inflation, gas prices, immigration and foreign policy could shape Republican prospects. Democrats, meanwhile, will need to convert a favorable national political climate into successful campaigns in the competitive races that will determine control of the House and Senate.