What was once the friendliest polling terrain for President Donald Trump has become a source of particularly grim numbers, as Fox News data through summer 2026 shows his approval rating stuck at 39% for a third straight month—just a single point above the network’s all-time low for him.
The slide Fox News has documented represents a sharp reversal for a president who campaigned on economic competence and inflation control in 2024, only to see those promises collide with tariff-driven price increases that have dominated his second term.
In Texas, a state Trump won by 14 points two years ago, 54% of voters now view him unfavorably compared to 45% favorably, according to a Fox News survey conducted July 23-27, 2026. Among independents in the state, the president’s favorable rating sits at just 18%, with 78% holding an unfavorable view. That same poll found Democratic state Rep. James Talarico leading state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican incumbent, by a 51%-48% margin in the Senate race, with roughly one in four non-MAGA Republicans backing the Democratic candidate.
The July 17-20, 2026, Fox News survey of 1,003 registered voters found Trump underwater across every major policy area. On inflation, just 27% approved of his performance while 73% disapproved. Economic approval came in at 33% against 67% disapproval. Immigration, historically his strongest issue, registered 42% approval and 57% disapproval, while Iran policy drew 34% approval to 66% disapproval.
Three-quarters of voters gave the economy negative marks, and a similar share reported financial hardship from inflation—including 34% who called that hardship serious, up from 26% one year prior. Democrats held a 53% to 46% lead on the generic congressional ballot, the largest margin either party has achieved in Fox News polling since 1996.
Daron Shaw, the GOP pollster who collaborates with Democrat Chris Anderson on the Fox News Poll, said “it’s all about affordability” and cautioned that core constituencies were beginning to waver.
The network’s May 15-18, 2026, poll had captured the highest disapproval of Trump’s presidency in Fox News polling history: 61% disapproval to 39% approval. That survey also showed Republican support at 80%, the lowest of his second term, with non-MAGA Republicans giving him only 54% approval.
Where the Slide Began: April 2025
The roots of Trump’s current polling crisis trace back to April 2025, when surveys near his 100-day mark showed standing weaker than any post-World War II president at a comparable point in a second term.
Pew Research Center polling conducted April 7-13, 2025, placed the president at 40%, a seven-percentage-point drop since February. The organization observed that several significant policy moves—tariff hikes, federal department cuts, and widespread use of executive orders—met with mostly negative public reaction.
Economic worries drove much of the decline even then. Only 37% approved of his economic management in Reuters/Ipsos polling, while a Fox News survey that month put the figure at 38%, with 56% disapproving.
On inflation in April 2025, Fox News data showed 59% disapproval versus 33% approval of Trump’s handling. His tariff policy faced similar pushback: 58% disapproval and just 33% approval.
The CNBC All-America Economic Survey documented Trump’s weakest economic numbers to that point, with 43% approving and 55% disapproving—the first net-negative result on the economy in any CNBC poll during his time in office. A survey from Gallup that same week showed that public confidence in his stewardship of the economy stood at 45%, having fallen 14 points from the 59% recorded in November.
Surveys at the time found 47% citing food and consumer goods prices as their top economic concern, with housing costs and stock market volatility also generating anxiety.
Trump’s overall rating in the April 2025 Fox News poll stood at 44%, down five points from the 49% he had earned in the network’s March survey. His net position stood at negative 11 points—approval at 44% versus disapproval at 55%.
Reuters/Ipsos measured his approval at 42%, marking the lowest level since his second term began.
Comparisons with his first 100 days revealed an unusual dynamic: Trump had posted 45% approval at that earlier benchmark, meaning his 2025 performance lagged behind his own first-term results.
The contrast with other presidents was even starker. Joe Biden reached 54% approval at his 100-day mark, Barack Obama hit 62%, and George W. Bush stood at 63%—all well ahead of Trump’s April 2025 position.
In response to the Fox News findings, Trump attacked the network’s methodology, claiming the “pollster has gotten me, and MAGA, wrong for years.”
Reuters/Ipsos data indicated Americans were wary of expanded executive authority. The poll found 57% rejecting the idea that presidents may properly withhold university funding over disagreements, while 66% opposed presidential control of national cultural institutions.
Border security remained Trump’s lone bright spot in April 2025, with 55% approving in the Fox News poll—his best-performing category at that time. By May 2026 that number had slipped to 49% approval and 51% disapproval.
Foreign policy showed weakness even in 2025, with Fox News finding 54% disapproval and 40% approval.
New York Magazine’s analysis tracked Trump’s net approval rating from positive 11.6% in January 2025 down to negative 7% by April—an 18.6-percentage-point swing. The following 16 months pushed it another 13 points deeper into negative territory.
Statistician Nate Silver’s Silver Bulletin average recorded a net approval of negative 20.6 on July 30, 2026—a second-term low and lower than at any time during his first term, when his worst performance was approximately negative 19 after the January 6, 2021, Capitol assault. As of August 12, the average stood at negative 20.4.
The deteriorating economic ratings carry special weight given Trump’s 2024 campaign centered on vows to bring down inflation and bolster the economy—messages that proved crucial to his electoral success.
What appeared in April 2025 as a rocky beginning for an administration that had stressed economic prowess has, 16 months later, calcified into the central challenge of the second term—and, with midterms scheduled for November 3, 2026, an increasingly pressing problem for congressional Republicans.