A major measure of Americans' opinion of how Donald Trump is doing his job as president hit a new low this week for his second term in office. This is primarily driven by a drop in job approval this week among Trump's Republican base. It's too early to say whether this drop represents a durable change in how Americans view Trump's job performance.
What you need to know about Americans' views on Donald Trump, as of the January 16 - 19, 2026 Economist / YouGov Poll:
- 37% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of Donald Trump's job performance and 57% disapprove, a net approval of -20
- The net approval of -20 is the lowest net approval Trump has received on any Economist / YouGov Poll in his second term and lower than all but one in his first term: -21 in mid-November 2017
- This week's record-low net job approval does not necessarily indicate anything about what Trump's net job approval will be in future weeks
- A three-week rolling average of Trump's job approval is not at a record low for his second term; that happened in November with a series of low net job approval findings in consecutive weeks
- Last week's comparatively high net approval of -14 and this week's record low of -20 contribute to his three-week rolling average of -17
- Trump's record-low job approval is driven by a drop in job approval among his Republican base, 79% of whom strongly or somewhat approve of Trump's job handling while 17% disapprove, a net approval of +62
- Last week, 88% of Republicans approved of Trump's job performance and 11% disapproved, for a net approval of +77
- Trump's net approval of +62 among Republicans is the lowest he has received in his second term
- Job approval among population subgroups, such as Republicans, can be even more prone to week-to-week variation than job approval among all U.S. adult citizens
- Since the start of his second term, Trump has fallen in Americans' estimation on three qualities we ask about regularly: leadership strength, honesty, and likability
Image: Getty (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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