Yahoo and YouGov have released poll results, showing how voters view Donald Trump compared to other recent presidents.
And the results aren’t good for the current president.
The poll has found that “40 percent [of Americans] now consider Donald Trump to be the ‘worst president in U.S. history.'”
“Another 12% think Trump is ‘worse than average’ — meaning that overall, a majority of Americans (about 53%) now rate Trump as one of the least successful presidents ever to hold the office.”
Interesting points of bipartisan agreement that jumped out at me in this poll:
• GOP and Dems now agree that Obama and Carter (!) were both better Presidents than Biden
• GOP and Dems now both rank George H.W. Bush ahead of Dubyahttps://t.co/Wbe7knP64o pic.twitter.com/6UJp5OohbF— Andrew Pardue (@ABPardue) February 16, 2026
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Additionally, “only a third of Americans say Trump is either the best president in U.S. history (12%) or better than average (21%). An additional 9% believe Trump ‘ranks somewhere in the middle.'”
When asked who was the greatest president among those listed, YouGov’s respondents answered “Abraham Lincoln (74%), John F. Kennedy (66%), and George Washington (65%).”
“More recent presidents have many more detractors than do presidents from earlier in U.S. history, who greater shares of Americans are unsure about. 55% rate Donald Trump as poor (48%) or below average (6%), as do 50% about Joe Biden and 48% about Richard Nixon,” YouGov found.
“Each president’s net rating — the share of Americans who view them as outstanding or above average minus the share who view them as below average or poor — can make it easier to compare sentiment about two presidents whom different shares of Americans are unsure about,” YouGov found.
New YouGov poll shows that roughly three quarters of Americans rate Lincoln as outstanding or above average.
Nearly 160 years later, his leadership during the nation’s greatest crisis still shapes how we define presidential greatness.
History matters.https://t.co/2QGL2a66Ud
— Mr. Emrich (@mremrich1) February 16, 2026
“Of the 20 presidents in the poll, 11 have positive net ratings, including three who were in office in the past 50 years: Ronald Reagan (+22), Jimmy Carter (+6), and Barack Obama (+15). By contrast, six of the 11 presidents with negative net ratings held office in the past 50 years: Lyndon B. Johnson (-1), George H.W. Bush (-12), Bill Clinton (-3), Donald Trump (-20), and Joe Biden (-27).”
The same poll also ranked first ladies.
“The survey also asked Americans to rate the 11 most recent first ladies. Of these, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Michelle Obama stand out as favorites: The percentages of Americans who rate them as outstanding or above average are 60% and 51%, respectively. The first ladies most likely to be rated as poor or below average are Melania Trump (46%) and Hillary Clinton (44%),” YouGov found.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
