A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll that closed on Monday has found U.S. President Donald Trump's approval rating falling to 31 percent, the weakest level recorded across both of his terms in the White House. The survey points to a public increasingly worried about high gasoline prices and the strain on household finances, and it suggests voters may take their frustration out on Trump's Republican Party in the congressional elections set for November 3. The new figure also represents a one-point drop from the previous installment of the poll, which closed two weeks earlier, underscoring a steady erosion of support rather than a sudden collapse.
At a glance: the key findings
The Reuters/Ipsos survey, a closely watched barometer of American public opinion, produced the following headline numbers:
- 31 percent approval for President Trump, the lowest reading of his two presidencies.
- A one-point decline compared with the survey conducted two weeks earlier.
- Gasoline prices and economic strain identified as the leading worries weighing on the public.
- A signal that voters may punish the Republican Party in the November 3 congressional elections.
A record low across two presidencies
The 31 percent approval rating marks a historic low point for Trump, dipping beneath even the most difficult stretches of his first term in office. While a single percentage point may sound marginal, the drop was enough to push the president into the weakest position he has occupied since first taking office, according to the poll, which was conducted jointly by the news agency Reuters and the global polling firm Ipsos.
Approval ratings measure the share of Americans who believe the president is doing his job well, and they are among the most closely watched indicators of a White House's political health. A rating in the low 30s leaves a president with a narrow base of enthusiastic supporters and a large pool of doubtful or disappointed voters, a position that complicates efforts to rally the public behind the administration's agenda.
The incremental nature of the decline, one point over two weeks, suggests the erosion of support has been gradual rather than the product of a single dramatic event. Steady drifts of this kind can be harder for a White House to reverse, because they reflect accumulated concerns among voters rather than a passing flash of anger.
Gasoline prices and economic strain fuel discontent
At the heart of the slide, the poll indicates, are two pocketbook concerns: the price Americans pay at the gas pump and the broader strain on the economy. Gasoline prices occupy a singular place in the American political imagination. They are posted on signs along virtually every road in the country, they appear in household budgets on a weekly basis, and they are among the few economic statistics that ordinary voters confront directly, day after day.
When fuel costs climb, the effects ripple outward. Commutes grow more expensive, family trips are scaled back, and businesses that depend on transportation face higher costs that can be passed on to consumers. Economic strain of this kind tends to be felt across income groups, and it is precisely the sort of pressure that shapes how Americans judge the party holding power.
The survey's findings suggest that these anxieties have begun to attach themselves to the president and, by extension, to his party. For a White House, that is a familiar and unwelcome dynamic: when voters feel squeezed, they rarely credit the incumbent with good intentions, and they increasingly look for someone to hold accountable.
A warning for Republicans on November 3
The poll's most consequential message may be political rather than personal. According to the survey, voters may punish Trump's Republican Party in the congressional elections scheduled for November 3, when Americans will decide the composition of the next Congress.
Control of Congress determines which party sets the legislative agenda, confirms key appointments and shapes the president's ability to govern. A president whose approval rating sits at a record low typically enters such elections with the deck stacked against his party, as wavering supporters stay home or defect, while energized opponents turn the vote into a referendum on the incumbent.
The Reuters/Ipsos findings indicate that this dynamic may now be at work. With economic frustration centering on gasoline prices and the cost of living, Republicans face the prospect of an electorate that is less interested in rewarding past accomplishments than in registering its discontent.
For the White House, the path to recovering support likely runs through the very issues the poll identified. Demonstrating progress on gasoline prices and easing the strain on household budgets would address the concerns driving the slide. Until those numbers improve, the poll suggests, the president's standing, and his party's prospects in November, remain exposed.
