WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s approval rating ticked a percentage point higher in recent days to 36 per cent as public dissatisfaction over the cost of living grew less intense, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on June 15.
The four-day poll gathered responses before and after Trump announced on June 14 that he and Iranian leaders had agreed to end a war between the two countries that had pushed petrol prices sharply higher.
Optimism over peace talks between the two countries has pushed petrol prices lower in recent weeks, though Americans are still paying roughly a dollar more per gallon at the pump than they were before the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb 28.
Some 24 per cent of Americans currently approve of Trump’s stewardship over the cost of living, up from 22 per cent a week earlier and 20 per cent in May.
The share who disapprove has eased to 69 per cent in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll from 73 per cent in May. It remains to be seen if Trump’s popularity, which has suffered even among groups core to his political base such as rural voters and evangelical Christians, could be turning a corner.
His overall approval rating remains near the lowest levels of his political career, and people still take a harsher view of his handling of the cost of living than they did of how his Democratic predecessor in office, Joe Biden, handled the issue.
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was conducted online, gathered responses from 1,537 US adults nationwide and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points in either direction.
Trump started his second term in January 2025 with a 47 per cent approval rating – 11 percentage points higher than his current rating – after winning the prior year’s presidential election with a promise to get persistently high inflation under control.
That hasn’t happened, a recent US inflation report showed, and dissatisfaction over rising prices could weigh on Trump’s Republican allies defending narrow congressional majorities in the Nov 3 midterm elections.
Some 41 per cent of registered voters in the poll said they would vote for a Democratic candidate in their district if the congressional elections were held today, compared to 38 per cent who said they would vote Republican.
Another 18 per cent said they weren’t sure or were considering a third party. Independent voters, who could be decisive in many elections, favoured Democrats over Republicans by 13 points, 35 per cent to 22 per cent. REUTERS