Trump Approval Rating at 42% in Fox Poll Six Months Before Midterms

With six months until the midterm elections, President Donald Trump's poll numbers remain underwater.

The two-month war with Iran, which polls show many Americans oppose, and a surge in gas prices tied to the conflict have driven Trump's approval ratings lower this spring.

The president's weak polls burden Republicans as they defend slim majorities in the Senate and a narrow edge in the House. Presidential approval has long served as a gauge of a leader's influence and his party's midterm prospects.

Trump is not alone in this. His recent White House predecessors also saw negative ratings hurt their parties in midterms.

Trump's approval was 42% with 51% disapproval in the latest Fox News national poll, conducted April 17–20. Other recent surveys show his approval in the mid to upper 30s and disapproval at or above 60%.

An average of recent national polls puts Trump's approval just above 40% and disapproval above 56%, per RealClearPolitics.

"It may come as cold comfort to the White House, but there’s a tendency for voters to be harsh toward all presidents," said Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts Fox News polls with Democrat Chris Anderson.

Four years ago, as then-President Joe Biden faced the 2022 midterms, he grappled with high gas prices too. A Fox News poll from late April and early May 2022 had him at 45% approval and 53% disapproval. RealClearPolitics averaged his numbers at 42%-53% then.

Trump's two most recent two-term predecessors also polled poorly six months before their second midterms. Barack Obama was at 43%-52% in early May 2014, and George W. Bush was at 35%-59% in 2006.

Republicans lost badly in the 2006 midterms, and Democrats took heavy defeats in 2014.

Biden's poor numbers hurt Democrats in 2022, but the party held the House majority by exceeding expectations. That owed in part to focus on abortion after the Supreme Court's conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade, which had legalized abortion nationwide for half a century.