The popularity of Donald Trump has reached its lowest point since he began his second term, according to a new survey from the newspaper Financial Times conducted by the firm Focaldata: only 33% of registered voters approve of his performance as president, with the midterm elections less than two months away.
The data represents a three percentage point drop compared to the previous month and is the lowest recorded since the Financial Times began this series of surveys last May.
Erosion is not limited to voters in general. Among Republicans themselves, Trump's approval dropped by more than two points to 72%, which is also a historic low for this survey. Regarding economic matters, only 53% of party voters approve of his handling of jobs and the economy, a decrease of nearly eight points in just one month.
Dissatisfaction with the economy and cost of living is emerging as the main driver of the decline.
Almost two-thirds of registered voters believe that the economy is heading in the wrong direction, and 57% say they are worse off economically under Trump's presidency, four points higher than in the previous measurement, when that percentage was 53%.
The price of diesel worsens the situation: on Friday it reached a record high of 5.85 dollars per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), driven in part by the war with Iran —called Operation Epic Fury— which has increased the cost of fuel and consumer goods over the past six months.
Tariff policy also weighs heavily. 56% of registered voters, including more than 60% of independents and nearly a third of Republicans, disapprove of the 50% tariffs that Trump imposed on approximately $20 billion in Canadian goods. Ottawa responded with equivalent retaliatory measures on U.S. imports, escalating the trade war.
The White House defended its course. "Although President Trump has always been clear about the temporary disruptions resulting from Operation Epic Fury, the administration remains committed to a proven economic agenda of tax cuts, deregulation, and energy abundance," stated a spokesperson.
As the November elections approach, the figures are equally concerning for the Republican Party. Registered voters give the Democrats a 7.5-point advantage in legislative voting intention, up from five points the previous month. 46% of respondents, including more than half of independents, believe that Trump is hindering the chances of Republican candidates for Congress.
The information about independents is particularly revealing: 47% of that segment states that backing from Trump would make them less likely to vote for a candidate, which makes the president a potential burden for his own allies in contested districts.
Despite this, the Republican National Committee will hold a two-day convention this week in Dallas, Texas, led by Trump himself, aimed at mobilizing the vote ahead of November.
Parallely, Maga Inc, the political action committee that supported his presidential candidacy, announced a spending of 10 million dollars in advertisements for the Republican Senate candidate from Texas, Ken Paxton, against the Democrat James Talarico, from a total reserve of 400 million dollars.
The survey was conducted by Focaldata, a nonpartisan company based in London, between August 28 and September 1, with a sample of 1,914 registered voters and a margin of error of ±2.6 percentage points.
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