Topline
President Donald Trump’s net approval rating hit a new second-term low of -20.6 on Thursday in Nate Silver’s poll tracker following two major polls this week found his approval rating has reached an all-time low, as views of his handling of the Iran conflict worsen.
Key Facts
Trump had an average approval rating of 38.2% and an average disapproval rating of 58.8% in the Silver Bulletin, with his net approval rating declining from -16.4 on July 14.
A Quinnipiac University poll released this week found him with a 32% approval rating, an all-time low for Trump in the group’s polling.
His 34% approval rating in a CNN/SSRS poll released Wednesday also matches the career low he reached at the end of his first term.
The numbers coincide with a decline in support for the Iran war—34% of voters in the Quinnipiac poll support the war and 60% oppose it, the most opposition to the conflict since Quinnipiac began asking the question.
Fifty-four percent of respondents to the Quinnipiac poll think the U.S. is not winning the war, and 66% think it hasn’t been worth fighting.
The CNN poll found 67% believe Trump’s actions in Iran have hurt the U.S., and 74% believe he doesn’t have a clear plan for handling the situation, up seven percentage points from March.
Big Number
41%. That was Trump’s approval rating in July of his first term in AP-NORC polling, compared to 33% as of Thursday.
Key Background
The U.S. and Iran traded strikes Thursday as the war threatens to become a wider regional conflict, with Egypt reporting drone strikes on Wednesday in what appears to be the first attacks there since the war began in February. Meanwhile, Trump is “exasperated” by the conflict, NBC News reported, citing unnamed sources, including one who said he “erupted” during a White House meeting last week over the state of the conflict, though White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied the incident to NBC. Trump has said in recent days he’s open to negotiating with Iran, but if they can’t stick to the agreement, he’ll continue the attacks.
further reading
Trump Approval Rating: Less Than Half Of Republicans Want More War With Iran (Forbes)