New Polls Show Trump's Unpopularity Is Driving Voters Straight Into Democrats' Arms
Fresh NPR/PBS/Marist and CNN surveys find the president's approval stuck near record lows six weeks before Election Day, with Democrats holding a wide edge on the generic ballot.
Six weeks before the midterms, two new national polls released Wednesday show President Trump has become the defining issue of the campaign — and that's a warning sign for Republicans up and down the ballot.
A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll finds just 39% of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing, while 53% say they strongly disapprove — the highest share of strong disapproval recorded since pollsters began asking the question in 2017. Registered voters say they'd rather see Democrats control Congress by a wide 12-point margin, 54% to 42%.
A separate CNN poll found a similar, if slightly narrower, eight-point Democratic edge on the generic congressional ballot, with voters increasingly sour on Trump's handling of the economy specifically.
Trump Looms Over Every Race
Pollsters say the numbers point to a familiar midterm dynamic: an unpopular president dragging down his own party's candidates, even in races that have little to do with him directly. Most voters surveyed agreed the 2026 midterms are fundamentally a referendum on Trump himself rather than on any single local issue — and most of those voters disapprove of the job he's doing.
THE HIGHEST SHARE OF STRONG DISAPPROVAL SINCE THE QUESTION WAS FIRST ASKED IN 2017.
The economic backdrop hasn't helped the president's case. Inflation worries have resurfaced in recent weeks amid rising oil prices and a run of hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve, and pollsters found voters who named the economy or cost of living as their top concern were especially likely to disapprove of Trump's performance.
Democrats currently hold a polling advantage in several of the cycle's most competitive Senate races, giving the party a plausible — if still difficult — path to retaking the chamber. Republicans, however, maintain a sizable financial edge, with a roughly $103 million cash advantage across the parties' national committees heading into the campaign's final stretch.
What's Next
With early voting already underway in some states, both parties are racing to lock in their closing message before Election Day. Republican strategists are betting a resilient economy and the president's foreign-policy moves will narrow the gap; Democrats are betting that frustration over prices — and over Trump himself — won't fade by November.