Trump’s approval rating hits record new low as midterms loom

Read the original at The Independent ↗
Cite

Scott, O. (2026, October 19). Trump’s approval rating hits record new low as midterms loom. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-midterm-approval-rating-elections-b3068983.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Independent · collected 2026-10-19 · by Owen Scott

Quick Summary

President Trump's approval rating has dropped to an all-time low of 33%, with 66% disapproving of his performance, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll conducted from October 9 to 13. This decline coincides with the upcoming midterm elections and amidst political challenges like the brief tenure of Katie Zacharia as Press Secretary and conflicts in Iran. The poll also indicates that 52% of respondents strongly disapprove of Trump's performance, marking a significant drop compared to last year. Despite this, Trump remains optimistic about Republican success in the midterms but acknowledges that voters prefer Democratic control of Congress to serve as a check on his presidency.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-19, 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 18, 2026, President Donald Trump's approval rating hit a record low at 33%, with 66% disapproving, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll. Just over two weeks before the midterm elections, likely voters support Democratic candidates in congressional district elections by an 8-point margin, 52% to 44%. The poll surveyed 2,545 U.S. adults, including 2,032 registered and likely voters, with a margin of error of ±2 percentage points. Despite his low approval rating, Trump has continued to assert confidence in the Republican Party's chances for the midterms.

Written for “Trump Approval Rating Hits Record Low” on 2026-10-19, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence medium
Leaning: leans left for article 90259 (medium confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-10-19

Story

📰 Trump Approval Rating Hits Record Low
Politics · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 9% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
ABC News (US)
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 2% hedged 2 of 86 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles report on the same record low approval rating for President Trump and mention its timing in relation to upcoming midterm elections.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 10% hedged 3 of 29 📰 publisher trust 68
“The articles describe different aspects of public sentiment towards Trump's presidency and economy, rather than a single specific event.”
NBC News
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 5% hedged 3 of 55 📰 publisher trust 95
“The articles discuss different aspects of public opinion and approval ratings towards President Trump, rather than a single specific event or incident.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this 🔴 14% hedged 3 of 22 📰 publisher trust 61
“Article A discusses various issues affecting Trump's popularity and midterm election chances, while Article B specifically reports on a new poll showing his record-low approval rating.”
Inside Trump’s job approval crisis different event · 50%
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 30 📰 publisher trust 68
“The articles describe similar but distinct polls showing low approval ratings for President Trump around the same time. They do not specify that they are reporting on the exact same poll or the same specific incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
2 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
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
2
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-19 · 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 · 2569 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Owen Scott
63 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Despite Trump’s confidence in his record, the poll found that voters would rather see the next Congress controlled by the Democratic Party.
🔮 Vasquez added, “It could choke somebody.
🔮 “Katie Hobbs is someone who could not pass the test,” Trump claimed.
🔮 Six Flags Over Georgia is expected to reopen after a 42-year-old teacher died after an incident on the park’s famous Goliath roller coaster.
🔮 Chandler said that she had been given a steroid injection by one worker, who said that they would return shortly.
🔮 According to the criminal complaint, the family checked into the Great Wolf Lodge on September 21 and were set to check out Tuesday.
🔮 The commissioner of the Social Security Administration says that the program will last for another 90 years.
🔮 Xu is set to appear in Alameda County Superior Court on October 12, over seven years after the two recorded poisonings took place.
🔮 “This coordinated withdrawal of news coverage is exactly the kind of concerted action a serious antitrust division at the DOJ would examine: whether competing news organizations agreed among themselves to withhold a product the public expects to see,” she wrote on X. However, on Sunday, Jose Zamora, the regional Americas director at the Committee to Protect Journalists, slammed the DOJ’s announcement.
🔮 Now, District 3 Commissioner Rolando Escalona has confirmed to CBS News Miami that all of the city’s enclosed slides will close.
Also by Owen Scott
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 63 articles by Owen Scott →

Topics

Congress Democrats GOP Independent Iran

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 12× Democrats NORP · 5× Congress ORG · 2× GOP ORG · 2× Iran GPE · 2× Republicans NORP · 2× Americans NORP · 1× Independent NORP · 1× Katie Zacharia PERSON · 1× White House ORG · 1×

Narrative

Despite other polling showing dissatisfaction with Trump’s handling of the presidency, the commander-in-chief has continued to boast about his party’s chances in the midterm elections and has even encouraged voters to “pretend” that he is on the ballot. “You have to pretend I’m on the ballot,” Trump said at a rally in Georgia on Friday.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-19
🔮 Despite Trump’s confidence in his record, the poll found that voters would rather see the next Congress controlled by the Democratic Party.
2026-10-19 · The Independent
Trump’s approval rating hits record new low as midterms loom · assertive framing

Claims (22 extracted, 2 hedged)

President Trump’s approval rating has plummeted to a record low just weeks away from the midterm elections, according to a new poll. uncertain
rating → plummet → poll
Around 66 percent of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling his presidency, compared to just 33 per cent who approve. asserted
who → disapprove → cent
The revelation comes as the president is beset by a series of political headaches, including the brief tenure of Katie Zacharia as the White House Press Secretary and widespread anger over the war in Iran. asserted
president → come → Iran
The Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, which was carried out with 2,545 adults between October 9 and October 13, found that 52 percent of those surveyed disapproved strongly of Trump’s performance. asserted
percent → carry → performance
His approval rating sits lower than at any point during his first term and hovers eight points lower than this time last year. asserted
rating → sit → time
Despite other polling showing dissatisfaction with Trump’s handling of the presidency, the commander-in-chief has continued to boast about his party’s chances in the midterm elections and has even encouraged voters to “pretend” that he is on the ballot. “You have to pretend I’m on the ballot,” Trump said at a rally in Georgia on Friday. asserted
Trump → show → Friday
“OK, the story is this: We get 49% more votes when I’m on the ballot.” asserted
I → get → ballot
Despite Trump’s confidence in his record, the poll found that voters would rather see the next Congress controlled by the Democratic Party. asserted
Congress → find → Party
Fifty-nine percent of respondents said that they wanted the Democrats to control Congress to act as a check on Trump, as opposed to just 35 percent who said that they wanted the GOP to remain in control in order to support Trump’s agenda. asserted
GOP → say → agenda
Thirty-seven percent even said that they trusted the Democrats more to handle the economy compared to 28 percent that trusted the Republicans on the same issue. asserted
that → say → issue
It’s the first time in more than a decade that the public trusts the Democrats more to deal with the economy, The Washington Post reports. asserted
Post → ’ → economy
Ahead of his win in the 2024 presidential election, Trump’s campaign focused greatly on economic concerns. asserted
campaign → focus → concerns
However, he has been widely criticized in office for launching trade wars with major U.S. partners including Canada, Europe and China through his tariff policies. asserted
he → criticize → policies
Others have criticized Trump over the war with Iran, which led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil and liquified natural gas trade route. asserted
which → criticize → Hormuz
That has been blamed, in part, for a rise in fuel prices. asserted
That → blame → prices
The Democrats are trusted more by voters on the cost-of-living, the poll found, with 38 percent favoring them while just 24 percent favored the GOP. asserted
percent → trust → GOP
Overall, 72 percent of respondents said that the country was headed in the wrong direction compared to just 26 percent who thought the opposite. asserted
who → say → opposite
Despite the grim polling figures for the Republican Party, voters also hold a negative view of the Democrats, according to a NBC News Decision Desk Poll carried out from September 28 to October 12. uncertain
voters → hold → October
The survey, which involved 19,135 adults, found that just 43 percent viewed the party favorably compared to 57 percent who felt the opposite. asserted
who → involve → opposite
Meanwhile, among Republican adults, Trump held an approval rating of 76 percent. asserted
Trump → hold → percent
Forty-seven percent of self-identified Republicans, though, said that they do not expect to receive a $5,000 payment promised by Trump should his party hold both the House of Representatives and the Senate. asserted
party → identify → Representatives
Just 28 percent of the same demographic said that they do expect to receive the money. asserted
they → say → money
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