Trump job approval rating hits new low — largely due to one group, poll finds

President Donald Trump’s job approval rating has fallen to a new low, driven largely by declining support from independent voters, according to the latest Gallup poll.

The survey, conducted July 7-21, also found the president’s approval rating has slipped on key issues, including immigration, foreign affairs and the federal budget.

It comes after a busy first six months of Trump’s second term, during which time he cracked down on illegal immigration, levied tariffs on most of the world, bombed Iranian nuclear facilities and pushed through a major tax-and-spending package, dubbed “The Big, Beautiful Bill.” More recently, he’s been dogged by controversy over his administration’s handling of an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

Here is a breakdown of the results.

Record-low job approval

In the poll — which surveyed 1,002 U.S. adults — 37% of respondents said they approved of the way Trump has handled his job as president. This is the lowest share recorded in his second term, though it’s higher than his all-time low of 34%, registered at the end of his first term.

Since Trump returned to office, his approval rating has gradually declined, following the trend of many presidents, in which their “honeymoon phase” gives way to growing dissatisfaction. In January, his approval stood at 47%, before dipping to 44% in April and 40% in June.

The latest drop has largely been driven by one group: independents. Their support has fallen 17 points, from 46% in January to a record-low 29% in July.

Views among Republicans and Democrats, meanwhile, have barely budged.

Eighty-nine percent of Republicans approved of the president’s performance in July, down from 91% in January. And 2% of Democrats said they approved of Trump’s handling of his job, down from 6% at the beginning of his term.

Slipping approval on key issues

Trump’s approval ratings across eight key issues were also unenviable.

He garnered his best ratings on his handling of “the situation with Iran” (42%) and foreign affairs (41%).

The president earned slightly worse ratings for his handling of immigration (38%), the economy (37%), the “Middle East situation between Israelis/Palestinians” (36%) and foreign trade (36%).

His lowest marks came on “the situation in Ukraine” (33%) and “the federal budget” (29%), according to the poll, which has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Like his overall job approval rating, his marks on each of these issues have declined from earlier in the year. The one exception was “the situation with Iran,” which had not previously been polled.

On all of these issues, there was a major partisan divide, with strong majorities of Republicans signaling their approval, while small shares of Democrats and independents expressed the same.

Among Republicans, Trump’s highest approval rating came on foreign affairs (93%), followed by immigration (88%), while his lowest marks came on “the situation in Ukraine” (70%). In contrast, Democrats gave their highest approval rating on Ukraine (12%), and their lowest on the economy (2%), foreign affairs (3%) and “the federal budget” (3%).

“Trump closes out the second quarter of his second term in office having accomplished much of what he said he would do if elected,” Gallup concluded. “Yet, outside of his Republican base, relatively few Americans are pleased with his performance.”

This story was originally published July 25, 2025 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Trump job approval rating hits new low — largely due to one group, poll finds."