Donald Trump’s approval ratings remain very ugly, as they have been for most of his second term.
Per Newsweek, a new poll from Harvard-Harris has found that Trump’s approval “has slipped across every major policy area.”
The poll found that Trump’s approval rating dropped to 45 percent in January, down from 47 percent in December, although both of those numbers are on the high end in terms of measuring the president’s approval, compared to some other polls.
The Newsweek story described those results as Trump’s “weakest multi-issue profile in months.”
A single bright spot stands out in an otherwise bleak set of numbers for the White House as voters look ahead to the midterms. https://t.co/D44pBJEZ3n
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) February 3, 2026
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“The most pronounced erosion comes on immigration, which fell from 49 percent approval in December to 46 percent in January, extending a months‑long downward trajectory from the mid‑50s reached in early 2025,” Newsweek said of the issue polling. “Approval on the economy slipped a point to 43 percent from a high of 49 percent in February 2025, and ratings for foreign affairs dropped from 45 percent in December to 42 percent in January.”
Somewhat surprisingly, 51 percent of respondents approved of Trump’s handling of the ICE protests in Minnesota.
I dont think you have anything to worry about 🙏🇺🇸https://t.co/wbz38ZszDz
— Lita Normina (@Lita_Normina) February 3, 2026
As for the average of Trump’s approval ratings, RealClearPolling’s average now has Trump at an average approval of 42.9 percent and disapproval of 54.2, a negative spread of 11.3 points. It’s not the lowest of Trump’s second term, but it’s close to the low level of worse than -12, which Trump has hit on a couple of occasions in both 2025 and 2026. That shows that the Harvard-Harris poll is actually one of Trump’s better recent polls.
Of the included polls in the RCP average, all except for one, InsiderAdvantage, have Trump in negative numbers, and that one only has him at +1. Some have the spread at more than -20, with several others in double digits as well.
Trump has been consistently in negative territory in the RCP average ever since mid-March of 2025, after his ratings were positive for the first few weeks of his second term.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
