President Donald Trump’s approval ratings, at the current moment, are not particularly great. According to the RealClearPolling average, the president currently has an approval rating of 40.9 percent and a disapproval rating of 56.3 percent, a spread of -15.4.
All 15 polls listed in the RCP average have Trump underwater, most of them by double digits.
Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. By Gage Skidmore.
President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2019 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. By Gage Skidmore.
A few of the polls have Trump’s spread at -9, which is his best result. Fox News has his spread at -22.
According to RCP’s historical chart, Trump hasn’t been in positive territory in the site’s average since March of 2025, just weeks after he returned to office, although he’s still higher than his all-time low of -18.5, which he hit back in May.
But he’s still not in a strong position right now, especially as midterm elections approach.
Why are the polls so bad for the president currently? In a word, Iran.
An Unpopular War
The president did not at any point claim a popular mandate for getting involved in a military conflict in Iran, nor did he spend any time, before the war launched, making a case for it to the American people.
In a recent CNN appearance, election analyst Harry Enten cited a Washington Post poll, stating that Trump’s approval rating on the Iran conflict fell to -40, down from -13, in early March, shortly after the war launched.
B-2 Spirit. 19FortyFive.com image take at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in July, 2025.
“I believe this minus 40 points represents the least popular poll in terms of Trump’s net approval rating on the Iran war, the entire war so far,” Enten said on CNN.
“[Historically unpopular] is the phrase that I would use,” Enten added. “The war was unpopular to start off with, and it’s become even less popular.”
“The Washington Post poll showed that 68 percent of Americans say the conflict is not worth fighting—a level of public dissatisfaction that surpasses the backlash over the Iraq War, when 58 percent said the war was not worth it in 2006,” The Daily Beast said in a story this week about the war’s historic unpopularity.
Why It’s Unpopular
Why has the campaign in Iran lost popularity? There are quite a few reasons.
The war has resulted in higher gas prices due to oil supply disruptions, with prices now exceeding $4 per gallon on average.
And while prices began to decline throughout the first part of the summer, they have risen again as hostilities in the Middle East have resumed.
The recent deaths of U.S. service members are unlikely to make the war any more popular.
There’s also the war’s structural unpopularity. Democrats, for the most part, are as opposed to the war as they are to most Trump initiatives.
But Republicans, including some who are longtime supporters of Trump, have had the war test their resolve, especially since the president long ran against the idea of open-ended military commitments in the Middle East.
The Hill, meanwhile, wrote this week about Republican concerns about the political problem of continuing the war with Iran.
The war, the Hill reported, is “sparking fresh alarm among GOP lawmakers,” who are hoping for a quick resolution that reopens the Strait of Hormuz.
“That to me is the key consideration in all this,” Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the Senate majority leader, said of reopening the crucial waterway.
“What the president is insisting on is the strait be open. The Iranians are violating international law by having blockades there… That’s going to be key to all these economic questions that are being raised.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who is not running for re-election, also expressed concern that Republicans running this November could run into trouble due to the continuing war.
“That’s going to have an economic consequence, and economic consequences always have political consequences, and we’re looking at political consequences in November,” the outgoing senator told The Hill.
One senator, however, complained that Trump should fight the war harder.
“Anytime you’re talking about a higher cost of energy, it’s something you should be concerned about, but it’s different when you’re losing American lives,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) said, per The Hill. “When the Iranians are attacking our people, it’s time to finish this job.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
