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Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters says that President Donald Trump is the GOP’s “secret weapon” that will help the GOP “defy history” in November’s midterm elections, when the party in power traditionally loses House and Senate seats. But one year into his second tour of duty in the White House, public opinion surveys suggest many Americans are souring on the president and his agenda.
The president’s approval rating stands at 45% in the latest Wall Street Journal poll, at 41% in Reuters/Ipsos, and an average of all the most recent national polls compiled by Real Clear Politics puts Trump’s approval at 42%, with 55% giving him a thumbs down on the job he’s doing.
Trump started his second term in positive territory, but his approval ratings sank below water last March, and have slowly edged deeper into negative territory in the ensuing months.
“Support among Republicans has remained in place, but the opposition has become even more calcified,” veteran Republican pollster Daron Shaw told Fox News Digital, as he pointed to Democrats.
President Donald Trump takes questions as he announced the creation of the “Trump-class” battleship during a statement to the media at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Dec. 22, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Shaw, who helps run the Fox News Poll with Democrat Chris Anderson, said that “the approval numbers amongst Independents, I think, are what probably troubles the White House and Republican operatives across the country.”
“It’s true that Independents don’t turn out in particularly high levels in midterm elections, but they do vote and that’s where erosion in support of the president can cost Republicans seats not only in the House but also in some close Senate races,” he warned.
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