A Wall Street Journal poll found that 37% of respondents approve of President Donald Trump’s job performance and 61% disapprove, the lowest pre-midterm rating for any president in the paper’s polls since 1990. Its September 16–21 survey included 1,500 registered voters.
The poll found that 11% of voters who backed Trump in 2024 now regret their vote. Among Republicans who do not identify as MAGA, 11% said they plan to vote for a Democratic congressional candidate. On the economy, 65% rated conditions negatively and 33% positively; 60% said Trump’s economic policies had made it worse, while 25% said they had made it better.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Republican candidates and strategists have grown more concerned about voter sentiment, with some candidates seeking distance from Trump on the Iran conflict and economic policy. Separately, a Civiqs-based analysis found his net approval negative in 41 states and every major battleground. The article cautions that approval ratings alone do not predict election outcomes, which are decided race by race.
