Megan Brenan writing for Gallup: Independents Drive Trump's Approval to 37% Second-Term Low

Six months into his second term, President Donald Trump’s job approval rating has dipped to 37%, the lowest of this term and just slightly higher than his all-time worst rating of 34% at the end of his first term. Trump’s rating has fallen 10 percentage points among U.S. adults since he began his second term in January, including a 17-point decline among independents, to 29%, matching his lowest rating with that group in either of his terms.

What gets me about this whole thing is that we all knew he was a bad president already. He had a historically low 34% approval rating when he left office in 2021 and he stoked more anger in this nation that I’ve seen in my lifetime. The public responded by handing him a resounding defeat in 2020. Goodbye. See you later.

Was I surprised that Trump won again in 2024? Yes, it was an abject failure of the Democratic Party that they couldn’t beat the worst, least popular president in a lifetime. Am I surprised to see people sour on him once he was back in the job? Absolutely not. He’s the same guy with the same cowardly “yes sir, whatever you say sir” party, he’s just doing it with the additional cognitive decline of a 79-year old. So no, I’m not surprised to see him underwater on literally every issue, with the most severe drops in things he was supposedly elected to do, the economy and immigration.

But I know what you’re thinking, “Matt, you’re a leftie who never liked him, why should I listen to you?” But let’s look at approval based on party affiliation.

Basically, if you’re a Republican, the man can do no wrong, you will die for your boy…although there is a slight downward trend. Democrats never liked him and they like him even less now. But independents are the middle 30% of the US and are who move elections, and their approval has dropped from 46% to a dismal 29% today. Not a great look.