Donald Trump says women like him because more of them are employed during his second presidency, but polling paints a different picture as he consistently slides with female voters
President Donald Trump said women support him because of employment gains during his administration, even as polling shows his approval among female voters has declined ahead of the midterm elections.
Trump shared a story from right-leaning outlet Just the News with the caption, “No wonder they like me!!!” The story, which was first reported by the Daily Wire, cited research by Mike Konczal, director of the Economic Security Project, who analyzed Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Konczal found that women’s payroll employment had increased by roughly 765,000 since December 2024, while men’s employment had declined by about 6,000 over the same period.
Trump presented the figures as evidence of his popularity among women. Polling from around the same period, however, shows a different picture of how female voters view his job performance.
Polling shows declining support
ActiVote’s monthly presidential approval tracker recorded a steady decline in Trump’s standing among women across three consecutive surveys. In June, 41% of women approved of his performance while 57% disapproved, giving him a net rating of -16. Approval fell to 38% in July, while disapproval remained at 57%, pushing his net rating to -19. The most recent ActiVote poll, published September 1, found that 34% of women approved of Trump’s performance, while 64% disapproved.
The June survey included 478 registered voters, the July survey included 767 and the August survey included 1,000.
A YouGov/The Economist poll published August 31 found that 33.9% of female voters approved of Trump’s handling of his second term, down from 42.6% in January 2025.
A separate national survey of 1,604 women by Christine Matthews of Bellwether Research and Consulting found Trump’s approval rating among women at 32%. Among women who had previously voted for Trump, one in four said they now disapproved of his job performance. “When I look at those numbers, I am seeing sirens,” Matthews told Politico.
Matthews also told Newsweek that many of the women becoming less supportive of Trump are the same voters who backed him in 2024 because of concerns about inflation and the cost of living. “[They] voted for him in ’24 for precisely the same reasons they are upset with him now,” she said, adding that Democratic women are showing more enthusiasm about voting than Republican women heading into the midterms.
The Bellwether survey found that 38% of respondents named the economy and cost of living as the most important issue facing the country. It also found married women evenly split between the two parties, a notable shift from Republicans’ 13-point advantage among the group in the 2024 House vote and 14-point advantage in 2022.
Other surveys have shown some fluctuation rather than a uniform decline. Quinnipiac University polling found Trump’s approval among women falling from 31% in July to 29% in August before rising to 32% in September, according to Newsweek‘s tracking of the poll. A The Economist/YouGov survey also found his approval among women rising to 35% in early April from 30% in February. Both figures remained below Trump’s approval among men in the respective surveys.
Friction with female journalists
Trump’s comments about women have also extended beyond policy and polling, with a long record of pointed remarks toward female journalists and public figures. In November 2025, he told Bloomberg News reporter Catherine Lucey, “Quiet, piggy!” as she questioned him about the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Trump told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. I’ve known you for 10 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face,” after she asked him about Epstein’s victims. Collins responded, “I don’t think it’s a controversial opinion that you shouldn’t smile when you’re asking questions about a trafficker and sexual assault victims.”
Trump returned to his criticism of Collins, saying, “She never smiles. I said, ‘Kaitlan do you ever smile? Smile!’” He added, “You have a nice position; you’re at CNN fake news. You should be a happy person. So smile, Kaitlan! Just smile.”
Trump has also repeatedly attacked The New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, whom he has called “Maggot,” and has described her colleague Katie Rogers as a “third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out.” He has similarly directed insults at television personality Rosie O’Donnell, whom he has called a “fat pig,” a “total slob” and an “animal.”