Trump approval – As President Donald Trump faces a Republican-controlled Senate and a new flurry of congressional votes, fresh polling shows his approval rating sliding—dragged down by voter worries about inflation, the economy, and skepticism about the Iran war’s costs and pr
When the Senate moves through a symbolic war powers resolution and Congress pushes a housing affordability bill in a rare bipartisan moment, it should be the kind of momentum a president can lean on.
But on the same stretch of dates, voters appear to be looking the other way. New polls published over the last week show Donald Trump’s approval rating stuck in a net-negative range. with disapproval rising and skepticism spreading about whether his Iran policy is worth the expense—and whether it will bring lasting peace.
The contradiction matters as the 2026 midterm elections approach, widely viewed as a referendum on the presidency. Low approval ratings can tighten the political environment for Republicans trying to defend seats. especially when the economy and the cost of living are already central to voter sentiment.
On June 23, the Senate passed a symbolic war powers resolution, after the House of Representatives had already signaled support for ending the war in Iran. The same day, Congress passed a housing affordability bill in a rare bipartisan moment.
Trump was scheduled to sign that housing bill on June 24, but canceled, saying it wouldn’t happen until the voter ID requirement bill—described as the SAVE America Act—passed.
While Trump’s legislative path is being shaped by conditions inside Congress, the polling picture is being shaped by economics and war.
His approval rating has been net negative for more than a year, fluctuating but trending more negative over the past several months. Polling aggregators show an average approval level that remains weak as of June 24.
In an American Research Group poll released this week, Trump’s job approval reached a career low. Just 30% of Americans said they approve of his job performance as the 2026 midterm elections approach. The survey, conducted June 16-20 among 1,100 respondents, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. It found 66% disapprove of Trump—described as the highest disapproval and lowest approval ever recorded by the pollster during either of his presidencies.
The same survey captured stark economic pessimism. Among those who disapprove of Trump, 82% said they expect conditions to worsen over the next year.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published June 23 put Trump at 34% approval, tied at the low for his second term. The figure was similar to April’s rating, which was the lowest level of the president’s second term. The 2 percentage-point drop from Trump’s 36% approval earlier in the month was within the poll’s 3-point margin of error.
Reuters/Ipsos also measured how Americans view the Iran diplomacy track. It found that a majority of Americans think it’s unlikely that the preliminary agreement between the U.S. and Iran will lead to lasting peace. About 63% said they don’t believe the deal Trump signed will bring peace. Roughly half of Republicans and eight in 10 Democrats polled between June 18-22 said the deal was unlikely to deliver peace.
Only 18% of Americans—including 10% of Democrats and 34% of Republicans—said lasting peace is likely.
When it came to the war itself, the same Reuters/Ipsos polling reflected deep division. One in four Americans polled said Trump’s war with Iran was worth the expense. Fifty-two percent said it has not been worth the costs for the U.S. to take military action in Iran, mirroring a May Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted before the countries signed their agreement.
A CBS News/YouGov poll released June 21 painted a similar picture. with more respondents saying the war created problems instead of solving them. In that survey of 2,519 U.S. adults conducted June 17-19, 57% believed the war created more problems than it solved, compared with 21% who thought the opposite. Another 21% responded “neither,” and the poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
That poll also found a strong push to end the conflict. Seventy-eight percent of Americans thought the U.S. should end the conflict now, compared with 22% who thought the U.S. should continue until Iran gives up more. The majority included 60% of Republicans and 56% of MAGA Republicans who agreed the U.S. should end the war now.
The timing of these surveys also coincided with developments in diplomacy. The first round of Iranian peace talks ended in Switzerland on June 22, and the parties said they agreed on a roadmap to reach a final deal within 60 days.
Even within the president’s job approval numbers, the latest signals were mixed. The CBS News/YouGov poll found 38% approved of Trump’s job performance—up slightly from May. CBS News reported that the uptick was helped by non-college White Americans who believe gas prices will fall.
Put together, the polling reveals a political environment where major congressional actions do not automatically translate into public confidence. With Americans already expressing worry that conditions will worsen—and with large majorities skeptical about whether the Iran deal will bring lasting peace—Trump’s ability to leverage legislative wins could be constrained as voters judge both economic performance and the war’s endgame.
Donald Trump approval rating inflation polling Reuters Ipsos poll CBS YouGov poll Iran war approval war powers resolution housing affordability bill SAVE America Act 2026 midterm elections