Americans broadly disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling his job, and a majority say he has gone too far in exercising the powers of his office, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll. But a year out from the 2026 midterm elections, there is little evidence that negative impressions of Trump’s performance have accrued to the benefit of the Democratic Party, with voters split almost evenly in their support for Democrats and Republicans.
Overall, 41 percent of Americans say they approve of the job Trump is doing, while 59 percent disapprove. That level of disapproval is the highest in a Post-ABC poll since January 2021, a week after the attack on the Capitol. Trump’s support among self-identified Republicans remains strong at 86 percent, while 95 percent of Democrats disapprove. Among independents, Trump’s approval rating is 30 percent, while his disapproval mark is 69 percent.
Across eight issues that include the economy, immigration, tariffs, managing the federal government, crime, and conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, most Americans say they disapprove of how he is handling each of them. The narrowest disapproval among these is on the situation with Israel and Gaza, but still a 52 percent majority say they disapprove.
Trump has governed primarily through executive orders, setting out controversial policies affecting the federal government, the nation’s electoral system, the private sector and academia, among others. These orders have drawn multiple lawsuits challenging his authority. Many of the suits are still being adjudicated, with the Supreme Court destined to be the final arbiter in setting the boundaries for executive power.
Meanwhile, the public is rendering its own judgment and mostly in opposition to the president. The poll finds that 64 percent say he is going too far in “trying to expand the power of the presidency,” and majorities say he is going too far in laying off government employees to cut the size of the federal workforce, in deploying the National Guard to patrol U.S. cities and trying to make changes in how U.S. colleges and universities operate.
Opinions are more divided on issues that include deporting undocumented immigrants, closing pathways for immigrants to enter the country legally and pushing back against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the government. The country is roughly split between saying Trump is handling them “about right” or “not going far enough” and saying Trump is going too far.
Democrats can find few bright spots of their own in the new survey. Americans see the president and the two political parties as out of touch with their lives. But Democrats — whose popularity has hit low points in other national polls this year — are judged most harshly. While 63 percent of Americans see Trump as out of touch and 61 percent see Republicans that way, 68 percent say the Democrats are out of touch. There has been no improvement for Democrats since a similar poll last April.
Republicans have a narrow majority in the House and Democrats hope to recapture control next year, but at this point the new poll suggests a competitive contest in 2026. When Americans were asked how they would vote if the midterms were held today, 46 percent of registered voters say they would back the Democratic candidate in their district while 44 percent would support the Republican and 9 percent would not vote.
That is a narrower margin than the 11-point advantage Democrats enjoyed at this point in Trump’s first term and the seven-point edge just before the 2018 midterm elections, when Democrats recaptured control of the House.
Elections on Tuesday for governor in Virginia and New Jersey and a high-profile mayoral race in New York will be examined for early clues about next year. But the House landscape for 2026 is being redrawn in real time amid a flurry of mid-decade redistricting efforts in both red and blue states. That presents more than the usual amount of uncertainty about an election so far away. Still, the narrowness of current intentions is more evidence of the Democrats’ challenge ahead of a midterm year that history would say favors them.
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