- President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 37% in a Wall Street Journal poll conducted ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, while 61% of registered voters say they disapprove of his job performance.
Trump’s 37% approval rating marks the lowest pre-midterm reading for a president in the Wall Street Journal’s polling series dating to 1990, according to the Journal’s report. The survey was conducted Sept. 16-21 among 1,500 registered voters and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
The previous low in the Journal’s pre-midterm polling was 39% approval for George W. Bush in 2006. The comparison is historical and does not indicate how the 2026 elections will turn out. The survey comes roughly five weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, when voters will choose members of Congress as well as state and local officials.
Trump has continued to express confidence about Republican performance, while the Journal reported that some Republican candidates and strategists are more concerned about the political environment.
Economic Concerns Feature Prominently in the WSJ Poll
The Wall Street Journal poll found that 65% of respondents viewed the US economy negatively, compared with 33% who viewed it positively. 60% said Trump’s economic policies had made conditions worse, while 25% said they had made conditions better.
Those responses come amid higher energy and borrowing costs. Oil prices have remained elevated following disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, while US mortgage rates have remained above 7%, increasing the cost of financing for prospective homebuyers.
The Journal has also reported on how voters who supported Trump in 2024 are assessing economic conditions. In a separate Wall Street Journal report on Trump voters and the economy, voters cited inflation, wages, tariffs, deficit spending and higher energy costs among their concerns.
The latest poll found that 11% of voters who backed Trump in 2024 said they now regret that vote. Among Republicans who said they do not identify with the MAGA movement, 11% said they planned to vote for a Democratic congressional candidate, according to the Journal.
The results measure responses during the Sept. 16-21 survey period. They do not establish why individual voters changed their views or whether those respondents will vote in November.
Republican Candidates Navigate Donald Trump’s Approval Rating
The Wall Street Journal also reported that some Republican candidates are publicly separating themselves from Trump on specific policy issues. In Michigan, Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers released a campaign advertisement calling for an end to the war in Iran, according to the Journal. The newspaper also identified Republican candidates in Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin who have sought to create distance from Trump on issues including the Iran conflict and immigration.
The Journal’s reporting describes those moves as part of a broader effort by some Republican candidates to address concerns among voters in their respective states. It does not establish that every Republican candidate shares the same approach.
Trump, meanwhile, has predicted that Republicans will “overperform” in the November elections, according to people familiar with his private comments cited by the Journal. The difference between Trump’s assessment and concerns reported among some Republican candidates is one of the central political developments in the Journal’s coverage.
For voters evaluating the broader economic backdrop, the latest polling comes as oil prices remain sensitive to developments involving Iran and the Strait of Hormuz and Treasury yields remain elevated. The Wall Street Journal poll does not measure future election results. It provides a snapshot of registered-voter sentiment from Sept. 16 through Sept. 21.
The clearest figures from the survey are 37% approval, 61% disapproval, 65% negative views of the economy, and 60% saying Trump’s economic policies have made conditions worse. Those numbers provide a current measure of voter sentiment as the 2026 midterm campaign enters its final weeks.