Donald Trump insists polls are fake and claims his approval rating is really at 60%

Read the original at The Independent ↗
Cite

Keller, E. (2026, October 25). Donald Trump insists polls are fake and claims his approval rating is really at 60%. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-approval-ratings-midterms-polls-b3073001.html

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The Independent · collected 2026-10-25 · by Erin Keller

Quick Summary

President Donald Trump dismissed recent polls showing his approval ratings declining, insisting that Americans should trust his claim that his support is around 60%. In an interview with The Washington Examiner’s Byron York published on Saturday, Trump called polling figures “fake” and pointed to strong support among Republican voters as evidence of higher popularity. However, national polls consistently show lower approval ratings; a Reuters/Ipsos poll from October found only 34% approved of his performance while 65% disapproved. Trump also referenced an analysis by CNN’s Harry Enten that showed near-universal support among MAGA Republicans but noted declining approval on economic issues like inflation.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-25, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

As of October 25, 2026, Donald Trump dismissed poll results showing his job approval ratings at around 38%, claiming they are "fake." In an interview with The Washington Examiner’s Byron York, Trump asserted that his actual approval rating is closer to 60%. He cited strong support from Republican voters and his MAGA base as evidence of this higher figure, despite consistent national polling indicating otherwise. Trump also stated he does not believe he could be defeated in any election, reflecting his confidence among his supporters.

Written for “Donald Trump Challenges Poll Results” on 2026-10-25, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Donald Trump Challenges Poll Results
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 12% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 33% hedged 1 of 3 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A reports on the release of a new poll and its findings, while Article B covers Trump's reaction to polls showing his low approval rating.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 14 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles describe different aspects of the same topic, with Article A reporting on a poll's results and Article B focusing on Trump's reaction to those polls.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
25
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
3 of 25 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-25 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 3015 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Erin Keller
52 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Erin Keller
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 52 articles by Erin Keller →

Topics

Americans MAGA Republican Republicans Reuters

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 16× Enten PERSON · 4× Americans NORP · 3× CNN ORG · 3× Republican NORP · 3× MAGA ORG · 2× Republicans NORP · 2× Reuters ORG · 2× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Independent NORP · 1×

Narrative

In an interview with The Washington Examiner’s Byron York, published Saturday, Trump called the polling figures “fake” when asked about a RealClearPolitics average showing 38.8 percent of Americans approved of his job performance, while 60.4 percent disapproved.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-25
🔮 Trump continued: “I don’t believe I could be beaten by anybody.

Claims (25 extracted, 3 hedged)

President Donald Trump dismissed polls showing his approval rating falling ahead of November’s midterm elections, insisting Americans should trust his claim that his support is closer to 60 percent. uncertain
support → dismiss → claim
In an interview with The Washington Examiner’s Byron York, published Saturday, Trump called the polling figures “fake” when asked about a RealClearPolitics average showing 38.8 percent of Americans approved of his job performance, while 60.4 percent disapproved. asserted
percent → publish → performance
“It’s fake,” Trump said. asserted
Trump → ’ → ?
When York pressed him on what he believed his actual approval rating was, Trump rejected the figures and insisted his support was much higher. asserted
support → press → figures
“The job approval, they said it’s 37, 38?” Trump asked. asserted
Trump → say → ?
“I’m not at 38.” asserted
I → ’m → 38
Trump continued: “I don’t believe I could be beaten by anybody. uncertain
I → continue → anybody
I think that if I needed it, which I don’t, I think 60.” asserted
I → think → 60
Trump pointed to his strong support among Republican voters and his MAGA base as evidence of his higher approval rating. asserted
Trump → point → rating
However, national polling has consistently shown a less favorable picture of the president’s standing. asserted
polling → show → standing
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted between October 16 and 19 found that 34 percent approved of his performance and 65 percent disapproved. asserted
percent → conduct → performance
A Pew Research Center survey conducted September 28 through October 4 found that just 30 percent of Americans approved of Trump’s performance, while 68 percent disapproved. asserted
percent → conduct → performance
A separate New York Times/Siena College poll released this week put his approval rating at 34 percent, which the newspaper said was the lowest for a president approaching midterm elections since Harry Truman’s 33 percent in 1946. asserted
newspaper → release → 1946
Trump’s rejection of polling figures comes amid a controversy involving The New York Times and Wedgewood Research, a polling firm that acknowledged producing fabricated polling numbers as part of a social experiment. asserted
that → come → experiment
The newspaper said it did not use the disputed polls when calculating Trump’s job approval rating. asserted
it → say → rating
To support his claim that he remains popular, Trump pointed to an analysis by CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten showing the president’s support among MAGA Republicans remains near 100 percent. uncertain
support → support → percent
Enten reported that Trump received 99 percent of the MAGA Republican vote in the 2024 election and had a 98 percent approval rating among MAGA Republicans in September. asserted
Trump → report → September
“I think I’d be in the 60s now. asserted
I → think → 60s
Now, in the Republican Party, I’m way up. asserted
I → ’m → Party
Have you seen it?” Trump said. asserted
Trump → see → it
However, Enten also found that Trump’s net approval rating on inflation fell from +8 points in 2024 to -45 ahead of the midterms. asserted
rating → find → midterms
This week, Enten called the president’s polling situation “a five-alarm Trumpster fire” after a Reuters/Ipsos survey put Trump’s approval rating at 31 percent, the lowest recorded for him across both of his presidential terms. asserted
survey → call → terms
Despite the unfavorable figures, Trump continued praising Enten and CNN for polling that reflects his support among Republican voters. asserted
that → continue → voters
“They did do some nice polls on me, I must say. asserted
I → do → me
If CNN keeps doing those polls, I’ll like them more and more,” Trump said. asserted
Trump → keep → them
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