Tommy ChristopherMay 22nd, 2026, 12:44 pm

President Donald Trump’s approval rating hit a new low at 31 percent in a poll showing that just 14 percent of Americans view his economy as “good” or better — and only 4 percent see their own financial situation “getting better.”

Aside from the occasional outlier — like the “100 percent” MAGA poll that Trump bragged long and hard about — Trump has been showered with an escalating series of bad polls for most of the second term. But things have gotten especially acute since the Iran War began, with soaring gas prices contributing to dissatisfaction with Trump over the economy.

That economy has been driving Trump’s approval rating into the ground. The president sank below 40 percent in The New York Times’ average of polls last month and has remained below that mark ever since.

Things got even worse this week, with a handful of new polls showing record lows for Trump in a variety of metrics and five major polls putting his approval rating in the thirties.

But Trump sank even lower in a poll released Thursday and taken from May 16-20, 2026 by American Research Group. Some key findings:

• “A total of 31% of Americans say they approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president and 64% say they disapprove”
• “When it comes to Trump’s handling of the economy, 29% of Americans approve and 67% disapprove.”
• “Among independents, 25% approve and 69% disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job as president.”
• “A total of 4% of Americans say they think the financial situations in their households are getting better, 23% say staying the same, and 66% say getting worse.”
• “A total of 14% of Americans rate the national economy as excellent, very good, or good and 79% rate it as bad, very bad, or terrible.”

Only four percent of respondents said the economy is “excellent,” with another four calling it “very good” and six percent saying the economy is “good.”

Read the full poll results here.

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