Monday 19 October 2026
Trump approval falls to 31 percent in the Reuters Ipsos poll, a low for either of his terms, two weeks before the midterms
President Donald Trump’s approval rating fell to 31 percent in a Reuters Ipsos poll released on Monday, the lowest the survey has recorded in either of his terms and one point below the previous low set two weeks earlier, as of October 19. Among registered voters, 47 percent said they would vote for a Democrat for Congress and 35 percent for a Republican, a 12 point Democratic lead on the generic ballot and the widest in that survey this election cycle.
The numbers that reached the White House on Monday were the worst this pollster has given Donald Trump in ten years of asking.
The four day Reuters Ipsos poll, which closed on Monday, put the president’s approval at 31 percent, down one point from two weeks earlier and the lowest level recorded in either of his terms. Asked which party they would support if the congressional elections were held today, 47 percent of registered voters picked the Democrats and 35 percent the Republicans. The 12 point gap is the widest Democratic advantage in the generic ballot in this survey during the current election cycle, and it arrives with early voting already open in several states and the election itself fifteen days away, on November 3.
Reuters reported that worry about high gasoline prices runs through the results. Gas averaged 4.29 dollars a gallon nationally on Monday, as of October 19, against 3.03 dollars a year earlier, and the price at the pump is the one economic figure every voter reads every week. Republicans hold the House 218 to 214 and the Senate 53 to 47, which means Democrats need a net gain of four seats in each chamber to take control of Congress for the final two years of Trump’s term.
This poll does not stand alone. A Washington Post ABC News Ipsos poll released on Sunday put approval at 33 percent, a record low for that survey, and found Democrats trusted more than Republicans on the economy for the first time in a decade. An NBC News SurveyMonkey poll the same day put approval at 34 percent, with 51 percent strongly disapproving. Generic ballot questions measure national mood rather than district by district contests, and Republicans keep structural advantages in many of the races that will actually decide the Senate. The survey gathered responses from 1,679 adults, including 1,279 registered voters, with a margin of error of two points for all respondents and three points for registered voters, as of October 19.
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