There’s ‘No Bottom’ To Trump’s Approval Rating

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten says President Trump’s approval rating is “as low as Death Valley” and trending in the wrong direction for the president and his party. “It’s been a steady fall into the abyss–there is no bottom.”

On CNN News Central Tuesday, Enten told anchor John Berman that “it’s not one event that is dragging Donald Trump down,” like the war in Iran, but “it’s a slew of events that have come together and have continuously dropped his net approval rating.”

In Enten’s aggregate of polling from Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, when his net approval was positive at +6 points, the drop has been huge: dropping into the red at -13 points in January 2026 and now falling to -18 points, “a term two low,” Enten said.

Between Monday and Tuesday, the president endured discouraging approval results in three separate polls, with the latest, from The Economist and YouGov, showing Trump with just a 35 percent approval rating–the lowest in his second term.

The Economist/YouGov poll broke down Trump’s anemic showing by issue, with 61 percent of Americans saying gas prices were going up where they lived, and just 29 percent of Republicans saying the economy is getting better–down from 55 percent just a month ago, and lower than any Economist/YouGov poll since Trump’s second term began.

‘He is worse than Richard Nixon’

On CNN, Enten suggested that there was little to indicate–even if the war in Iran were to end quickly–that Trump could turn his approval numbers around. At this point in the president’s first term, his approval was rising. Today, it’s on a steady decline–sitting six percentage points lower now that he did at this point in his first term.

“There is no sign of any bottom in term number two,” Enten said.

Where’s the president losing the most support? Enten says look at independent voters, who have run from Trump in his second term. “Donald Trump now has the worst net approval rating among independents of any president ever at this point in term two,” Enten said. “He is worse than Richard Nixon, who would be going adios amigos in a few months in 1974.”

Dragging down the 2028 GOP ticket?

Nixon’s net approval rating among independents at this point in his term in 1974–while he was facing impeachment hearings–stood at -36 points. George W. Bush was just one percentage point worse (-37) in the midst of the war in Iraq, while Trump’s number is a staggering -45. “He’s nearly ten points worse among independents…than Richard Nixon,” Enten said. “My goodness gracious.”

Trump, of course, has no re-election campaign to worry about, but his vice president, JD Vance, is widely expected to make a run in 2028–and Trump’s numbers are hurting. Six months ago, prediction markets had Vance with a 53% chance of winning the Republican nomination in 2028, but now he’s fallen to just 37%–tied for Vance’s all-time low.