Only 26% of Americans approve of how President Donald Trump is handling the economy, an all-time low, according to an Associated Press-NORC poll released Thursday, Oct. 1.
Forbes says another new poll this week found 65% blame Trump for persistently high cost of living. Forbes counts two polls this week with record-low economy numbers for him.
The AP-NORC survey, as summarized by USA Today, also put Trump's overall approval at 31%. That is the lowest of either of his terms and two points below the last AP-NORC poll in July. His previous career low was 32%, recorded in two AP-NORC polls between late September and early December 2017.
Trump now rates below Biden's 28% economy approval from the record-inflation era.
That comparison comes from USA Today, which notes the 28% for former President Joe Biden came amid record-high inflation. It's a rough benchmark for a president who is not supposed to be the one getting graded on prices.
The poll was conducted Sept. 24-28 among 2,140 adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
A post tagged to the AP-NORC poll says Americans are deeply frustrated with Trump's handling of the economy and rising prices. It says most pan his performance and blame his policies, and that higher costs threaten his party's chances in November.
House Democrats pounced, saying: "The verdict is in, Americans are fed up with Donald Trump's failed economy." That is a partisan framing, not a finding. The numbers above are the finding.
USA Today lists other bad polls in the same stretch. A Wall Street Journal poll has Trump at 37%, which USA Today says is the lowest for a president heading into the midterms since the paper began polling in 1990. A Quinnipiac University poll has him at 34% approval and 61% disapproval, tying the pollster's record for disapproval. The last time Trump hit 61% was in Quinnipiac's Jan. 18, 2021 survey.
Polling averages as of Oct. 1, per USA Today:
- RealClearPolitics: 38.8% approve, 59.6% disapprove
- New York Times: 37% approve, 61% disapprove
- Silver Bulletin: 37.7% approve, 59.9% disapprove
Prices are a kitchen-table problem, and in at least one poll, 65% of respondents know whom they blame.
The midterms are in November, and the Wall Street Journal's 37% is the worst number for an incumbent president at this point in its polling since 1990.