WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s approval rating has reached 40 percent for the first time since August in the latest Associated Press/NORC poll released Wednesday, after a flurry of foreign policy activity in the first two weeks of 2026 and the controversial killing of a woman in Minneapolis by an ICE agent, the Forbes reported.
Trump’s approval rating increased to 40% from 36% in December, while his disapproval rating decreased from 61% to 59% in the latest AP/NORC poll of 1,203 U.S. adults conducted Jan. 8-11 (margin of error 3.9).
Despite the improvement in Trump’s overall approval rating, the poll found a plurality of respondents (45%) want the U.S. to take a less active role in solving global issues, an increase from the 33% who said the same in December.
Jan. 14: Trump’s approval rating was also at 40% in the latest Economist/YouGov poll released Wednesday and his disapproval rating was 56%, a slight improvement from last week (the poll of 1,437 registered voters was conducted Jan. 9-12 and has a margin of error of 3.1).
Jan. 6: Trump’s 39% approval rating and 56% disapproval rating is unchanged from last week’s Economist/YouGov survey of 1,551 U.S. adults taken Jan. 2-5 (margin of error 3.3).
Jan. 6: Trump’s approval rating dipped one point, to 46%, in the latest Morning Consult survey, consistent with his average job performance rating throughout his second term, according to the poll of 2,201 registered U.S. voters taken Jan. 2-4 (margin of error 2).
Jan. 5: Trump’s approval rating ticked up three points, to 42%, and his disapproval rating decreased three points, to 56%, in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,248 U.S. adults taken Jan. 4-5, after the U.S. captured Maduro and his wife in a stunning raid early Saturday. 41%. That’s Trump’s average approval rating so far during his second term, equal to his 41% average approval rating throughout the duration of his first term, according to Gallup.
Views of Trump’s job performance improved to their highest point since October, despite only one in three Americans approving of the military operation and 72% saying they’re worried the U.S. will become too involved in Venezuela, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll, which has a margin of error of 3).
Dec. 30 Trump ends the year with a 39% approval rating and 56% disapproval rating in the Economist/YouGov’s weekly poll following a downward trend since the start of his second term linked to his handling of the economy—as more than half of poll respondents, 51%, said they believe the economy is getting worse (the latest survey of 1,550 U.S. adults was conducted Dec. 26-29 and has a 3.6-point margin of error).
Trump’s -17% net approval rating compares to a -14% net approval rating after the first year of his first term and a -10% net approval rating after Biden’s first year, according to Economist/YouGov polling. Trump’s overall average approval rating for his first and second terms (41%) is lower than all presidents dating back to Harry Truman, according to Gallup. Joe Biden had the next lowest average, 42%, followed by Truman (45%) and Jimmy Carter (46%).
