Polls show Trump hurt by cost of living, economy
By: Kinsey Crowley
USA Today
..... President Donald Trump is nearing the end of 2025 an approval rating that is underwater but slightly better than his lows in November [2025]
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With the turn of the new year, [2026] voter moods will be top of mind as the 2026 midterms approach and Republicans hope to hold onto control of Congress. Recent elections and polls have been pointing to a weak spot for Trump: the economy and cost of living. But in a prime-time address December 17 [2025] Trump blamed problems with affordability on the Democrats.
..... Another problem that has plagued Trump in his second term is rearing it head in the final weeks of December. [2025] The Department of Justice is in the process of releasing criminal cause files on Jeffrey Epstein after the December 19 [2025] deadline put in place by the Epstein Files Transparency Act. A batch released December 23 [2025] mentioned Trump numerous times.
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Averages based on RealClearPolitics and New York Times aggregators whose Trump's approval rating is net negative, but appears to have rebounded slightly and begun stabilizing after a sharp drop in November. [2025]
..... As of January 27 [2025] 50.5% approved, giving Trump net positive rating until March 13, [2025] when it flipped to net negative with 47.8% approval, compared to 48.5% disapproval., RealClearPoltiics graphics show. The approval rating reached a low on April 29 [2025] at 45.1% approval, which fell around Trump's 100-day mark. It reached a new low of 42.3% on November 14 [2025] as the controversy heated up around Epstein's emails following the end of the government shutdown. The next week. [11/19/2025] his disapproval ticked up to a term high of 55.6%. As of December 23, [2025] RealClearPolitics found 43% approve and 53.6% disapprove.
..... The New York Times aggregator showed Trump's approval fell from 52% approval in January [2025] to 44% approval in April, [2025] and then mostly held steady for months. According to the Times, Trump's term ow is 41% approval, which he first reached on November 12. [2025] His disapproval also notched up to 56% on November 19 [2025] a high for this term per the aggregator. As of December 23, [2025] 42% approve and 54% disapprove, per the Times.
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In a Morning Consult poll December 19-21, [2025] trump had a 45% approval rating. The poll surveyed 2,203 registered U.S. voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points. The approval is down one point from the previous week, while the 52% disapproval held steady. Both are worse than the pollster's average since January. [2025]
..... The survey also found that voters were most likely to want Trump to focus on lowering prices, but not as many see Trump prioritizing those policies.
..... A new two-week poll from Gallup released on December 22 [2025] shows Trump's approval rating for the month is weak, standing at 36%, though it;s buoyed by a strong 89% level of support among Republicans. Among independents, his support in the latest Gallup poll is 25%, Democrats' opinion of the president tanked to 3% in the survey. Trump's December [2025] approval rating is unchanged form November's [2025] Gallup number, when
it feel to the lowest of his second term, just barely above his personal low of 34% in January 2021.
..... The poll also shows that a majority of Americans are unhappy about congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle, dissipated with the way thing are going in the country and do not approve of the country's top leaders in the White House, Supreme Court and the Federal Reserve.
..... Contributing: Kathryn Palmer, USA Today