Overview
This week’s Economist/YouGov poll covers…
- New lows for Trump approval
- Democrats leading in congressional voting intention — among registered and unregistered voters
- Little support for Israel taking control of Gaza
- Growing support for military aid to Ukraine
- How few Americans want the federal government controlling universities
Trump hits new low in second-term approval
- 40% of U.S. adult citizens strongly or somewhat approve of Donald Trump's job performance and 56% disapprove
- The 56% who disapprove of Trump's job performance is the highest share to do so in Trump's second term
- Trump's net approval rating (the share who approve minus the share who disapprove) is -16, also the worst of his second term
- The -16 net approval rating is worse than Trump's net approval in all but five of the 208 weeks in his first term
- Twice as many Americans strongly disapprove of Trump's job performance as strongly approve (47%, a new high level for his second term, vs. 23%)
- Trump has hit a new second-term low in net approval among Americans who lean toward neither party: 68% of this group disapproves of Trump's job performance and 20% approve, a net approval of -49
- Far more Americans disapprove than approve of how Trump is handling jobs and the economy (53% vs. 39%)
- This is a net approval on the issue of -14, the lowest net approval on the economy in Trump's second term
- The -14 net approval on Trump's handling of jobs and the economy is also far worse than Trump received at any time during his first term
The 2026 election
- Democrats hold a 5-point advantage over Republicans in who registered voters say they would vote for in their district if elections for Congress were being held today (44% vs. 39%)
- However, only 74% of Americans say they are registered to vote. And among the 26% who are not registered, Democrats hold a larger advantage over Republicans, of 12 points (a majority say either that they wouldn't vote (38%), are not sure (15%), or would vote for another candidate (1%)). The Democrats' advantage with this group has grown in recent weeks
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 30% of Americans primarily sympathize with the Israelis in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while 26% primarily sympathize with the Palestinians and 23% sympathize with both sides about equally
- The 4-point difference between sympathies with the Israelis and sympathies for the Palestinians is the smallest in Economist / YouGov surveys since at least December 2017, with the exception of the August 1 - 4, 2025 poll, the last time this question was asked, when the gap was 3 points
- From March 2023 through May 2025, the share of Americans who sympathize more with the Israelis exceeded the share sympathizing more with the Palestinians by at least 10 points each time the question was asked
- A majority of Republicans sympathize more with the Israelis, but both Democrats and Independents are now more likely to sympathize with the Palestinians
- 43% of Americans say Israel is committing genocide against Palestinian civilians, while 28% say Israel is not; 29% are unsure
- The share saying Israel is committing genocide is up from 32% in October 2024
- 28% of Americans strongly or somewhat support Israel taking military control of all of Gaza, while 42% oppose this
- 52% of Republicans support Israel taking over Gaza, compared to 20% of Independents and 11% of Democrats
- Support for Israel occupying Gaza is 72% among those who primarily sympathize with the Israelis, 18% with those who sympathize with both sides about equally, and only 2% among those who sympathize more with the Palestinians
The Russia-Ukraine War
- 32% of Americans want the U.S. to increase military aid for Ukraine, while 27% want to decrease or eliminate military aid to Ukraine and 21% want to maintain the same level of aid
- Similar shares of Americans supported increasing military aid to Ukraine in mid-July, according to the July 18 - 21 Economist / YouGov Poll
- This is the first time since June 2023 that two times in a row when this question was asked, it was found on Economist / YouGov Polls that considerably more Americans have wanted to increase Ukraine aid than to decrease it
- 68% of Americans say their preferred outcome in the Russia-Ukraine War is that it ends with Russia controlling no Ukrainian territory, but only 11% expect that's how the war will end
- 21% expect that Ukraine will end the war having to give up half or more of its territory to Russia, while 38% expect Ukraine will keep most but not all of its territory
- 62% of Americans say the U.S. should be very (24%) or somewhat (37%) involved in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, while 22% say the U.S. should not be involved
- 41% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of Trump's recent meeting with Vladimir Putin in Russia to discuss the war, while 38% disapprove
- 13% of Democrats, 33% of Independents, and 76% of Republicans approve of Trump's meeting with Putin
- About one-third of Americans say that meeting made at least a little progress toward ending the war: 7% say it made a lot of progress and 25% say it made a little progress, while 42% say it made no progress
- 35% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while 45% disapprove
- Democrats are much less likely than Republicans to approve of Trump's handling of the Russia-Ukraine conflict (6% vs. 74%)
- Americans who support increasing military aid to Ukraine are much less likely to approve of Trump's handling of the conflict than are those who want to decrease or eliminate Ukraine aid (17% vs. 67%)
- Among Republicans who would decrease or stop Ukrainian military aid, 84% approve of his handling of the war and 5% disapprove
- Among Republicans who would increase or maintain Ukraine aid, 80% approve of Trump's handling of the war and 15% disapprove
Universities
- 57% of Americans strongly or somewhat disapprove and 31% approve of the Trump administration asking universities to pay large fines
- Democrats disapprove of the fines by 88% to 6%. Republicans approve by a somewhat smaller margin: 61% to 21%
- The approval question did not specify why the universities were being asked to pay large fines. The following question asked Americans why, in their own words, they think "the Trump administration is asking universities to pay large fines to the federal government."
- With the help of an AI tool to analyze responses among Democrats and Republicans, we find that:
- Many Democrats see the fines as rooted in greed, corruption, and authoritarianism — a way for Trump to enrich himself and his allies, punish liberal universities, and exert control over higher education. Democrats frequently describe the fines as extortion, retaliation, and part of a broader anti-intellectual agenda aimed at silencing dissent, dismantling DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs, and weakening institutions that challenge Trump
- Republicans more often frame the fines as a matter of accountability and enforcement, saying universities have violated laws, misused taxpayer money, tolerated antisemitism, or pushed biased DEI policies. They see the measures as justified efforts to protect Jewish students, curb left-wing indoctrination, and ensure compliance with federal rules, though some also describe them as heavy-handed or politically motivated
- Many Americans (38%) are unsure whether they approve or disapprove of how universities have responded to the Trump administration's actions relating to higher education
- Similar shares of Democrats and Republicans (25% vs. 22%) approve, though disapproval is higher among Democrats than Republicans (48% vs. 39%)
- Few Americans believe that the federal government should control universities' faculty hiring (10%), research topics (11%), curricula (12%), speech policies (13%), rules for student organizations (15%), and admissions criteria (17%). Majorities say each of these things should be outside of the federal government's control
- More Americans would like federal funding for scientific research done by American universities to increase (39%) than decrease (13%); 31% want it to stay the same and 17% aren't sure
— Carl Bialik contributed to this article
Throughout this report, some numbers may appear to be off by 1 because of rounding
See the toplines and crosstabs for the August 15 - 18, 2025 Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,568 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3.5%.
Image: Getty (Andrew Harnik / Staff)
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