Less than a week before the November 3 US midterm elections, President Donald Trump’s approval rating remains near its lowest level of his second term, while Democrats hold a lead over Republicans in the congressional preference polls.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on October 26 put Trump’s approval rating at 32%, up one percentage point from a record low in the previous week’s survey. Other polls cited by Forbes also show relatively weak approval ratings for Trump, although estimates vary by survey and the group of voters questioned.
The polling also points to an advantage for Democrats on the generic congressional ballot, while the cost of living remains a major concern for voters.
The November 3 elections will determine whether Republicans retain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, with the outcome likely to shape Trump’s legislative agenda for the final two years of his term.
Reuters/Ipsos poll: approval at 32%
Trump’s approval rating recovered slightly from the previous week’s record low, but the latest Reuters/Ipsos survey still placed it at 32%.
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US midterms · Nov 3
What the latest polls say
Trump’s approval, the race for Congress and voters’ cost-of-living worries, in one poll.
Reuters/Ipsos · online poll completed October 26, 2026
1 · Presidential approval
Trump approval
Up 1 point from last week’s record low of 31%
Share of US adults who approve of Trump’s job performance.
2 · Cost of living
Heading the wrong way
73%
73 in every 100 voters say the cost of living is heading in the wrong direction
3 · Generic ballot
Registered voters
47%Democrats
36%Republicans
Democrats +11
11% don’t know. Counting undecided voters’ leanings, it is 50% Democrats, 41% Republicans. The gap is one point tighter than the Oct 19 poll.
4 · Generic ballot
Likely voters
53%Democrats
44%Republicans
Democrats +9
Voters who appeared most likely to vote on November 3. Shown separately from the registered-voter figures.
Also in the poll
“Very enthusiastic” about the midterms
46% Democrats
30% Republicans
Party with the better approach on the economy
37% Democrats
33% Republicans
Poll of 1,679 US adults, including 1,280 registered voters, conducted online. Margin of error: about 2 points for all adults, 3 points for registered voters. The generic ballot asks which party voters would back for Congress. Inflation has risen since the Iran strikes began in February, pushing up gasoline prices.
Source: Reuters/Ipsos poll completed October 26, 2026; Reuters report, Oct 26–27, 2026.
Express InfoGenIECreated by Aniruddha Dhar
Forbes reported that Trump’s approval rating in the October 19 survey had fallen to 31%, while his disapproval rating stood at 66%.
Reuters says Republicans are now working to hold on to their majorities in both chambers. Losing either one, it adds, could make Trump’s plans harder to pass in the final two years of his term.
Democrats lead the race for Congress
Reuters reports that registered voters favoured Democrats over Republicans by 47% to 36% when asked which party they would pick for Congress. This is known as a “generic ballot” question. About 11% said they did not know how they would vote.
The 11-point lead was one percentage point narrower than in the poll completed on October 19. When undecided respondents were asked which party they leaned towards, Democrats led 50% to 41%. Among likely voters, the Democratic advantage was 53% to 44%.
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Reuters also found that Democrats are more keen to vote. Some 46% of Democrats said they were very enthusiastic about the midterms, against 30% of Republicans.
Reuters points out that national polls like this show public mood but do not capture contests in each state and district. Republicans hold some built-in advantages in those races. Analysts quoted by Reuters see a good chance of Democrats winning the House, but a harder path in the Senate.
Cost of living and the Iran war weigh on voters
Reuters says the fight for Congress has turned largely on prices. Inflation has risen since Trump ordered military strikes on Iran in February, which pushed up petrol prices. In the poll, 73% of voters said their cost of living was heading in the wrong direction.
Before the war, Reuters/Ipsos polls showed voters trusted Republicans more than Democrats to run the economy. That has changed. In the latest poll, 37% said Democrats have the better approach to the economy, while 33% picked Republicans.
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Other surveys cited by Forbes also point to dissatisfaction with Trump’s economic record. An Associated Press-NORC poll conducted from September 24 to 28 found that 26% approved of his handling of the economy and 17% approved of his handling of the cost of living. A separate CNBC survey put his economic approval rating at 34% and found that 63% of respondents were pessimistic about the economy, including 35% of Republicans.
Other polls show the same trend
A separate NPR/PBS News/Marist poll released on October 27 put Trump’s approval rating at 40% and his disapproval rating at 59%. In the congressional preference question, Democrats led Republicans 52% to 44%. Asked how Trump affected their vote, 44% said they were mainly voting against him, 21% said they were voting for him, and 35% said he had little influence on their decision.