Donald Trump's approval rating has fallen to its lowest point of his second term, amid mounting frustration over the cost of living and the US-Israel war on Iran. According to a New York Times/Siena poll released on Monday, the US president's approval rating has declined to 37%, the lowest level since his return to office in January 2025.
As November's US midterm elections approach, most American voters believe Trump's decision to go to war with Iran was the wrong choice. Nearly two-thirds of voters said entering the conflict had been the wrong call, and fewer than one in four Americans said the war had been worth the costs.
The economic consequences of the war have been felt globally since the US and Israel first attacked Iran in late February. The nationwide average US fuel price now stands at almost $4.52 per gallon, up from $3.18 a year ago, according to AAA data. Last week, Trump stated, "I don't think about Americans' financial situation," when asked if economic hardship was motivating him to seek a peace deal.
An estimated 64% of US voters disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy, an issue long seen as his political bedrock. A majority also gave him poor marks on his management of the cost of living, immigration, and the Israel-Palestine issue. Among independent voters, 47% say his policies have personally hurt them, compared with 41% last fall.
Trump's approval rating has been in decline for some time. By October 2025, it had already fallen to 42%, the same level Joe Biden had reached in April 2024, according to researchers at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. The researchers noted that all the goodwill from his election victory appeared to have drained away.
The administration's heavy-handed approach to deportations, including confrontations in which two US citizens were killed by federal agents, undermined his support. However, the fallout from the decision to join Israel in striking Iran and the subsequent oil crisis appears to have hastened the decline.
John Johnson, a 78-year-old contractor from Crescent Springs, Kentucky, who voted for Trump, told the Guardian: "Everybody's suffering from gas prices. Is it handled right? I don't think so. It could have been handled differently, diplomatically more so."
The poll does not indicate a straightforward win for Democrats either. Only 26% of voters said they were satisfied with the Democratic party, and 44% of Democrats expressed dissatisfaction with their own party.
