A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll puts President Donald Trump's approval at 33% among U.S. adults, with 66% disapproving, including 52% who disapprove strongly. The fieldwork ran 9-13 October among 2,545 adults, with a margin of plus or minus two points. It is not the 3 November result and does not call races district by district.

Approval is four points lower than in July and eight lower than last autumn. The Post says it is below any point in his first term in this series. Among likely voters the split is 38% approve and 62% disapprove. Half of adults strongly disapprove, a high for the second term in the same series.

On the generic House ballot, Democrats lead by eight points among registered and likely voters, 52% to 44% in ABC's write-up. In July the lead was three points. Fifty-eight percent of registered voters would rather have a Democratic Congress as a check on Trump than a Republican one to back his agenda, at 39%. That gap has roughly doubled in a year.

The economy is the main channel of discontent in this survey. Economic approval is 28%. For the first time since 2014 in Post-ABC polling, Democrats are more trusted on the economy than Republicans, 40% to 33%. Seventy-two percent say the country is on the wrong track. Forty-eight percent say they are worse off financially than when Trump returned in 2025, the highest such share for any president in Post-ABC polls since 1986.

Price perceptions have flipped. In February, 71% called gasoline affordable. Now 71% call it unaffordable, against the backdrop of the war with Iran, which 65% call a mistake. Majorities also call groceries, health care and home energy unaffordable. That is the poll's mood, not an official inflation print.

Republicans still give Trump 79% approval inside the party, but strong approval is only 39%, down from 63% in February 2025. Among his 2024 voters, 23% disapprove of his overall job. Self-identified Democrats are more likely to say they will definitely vote, 75% against 67% of Republicans. The poll is weighted to Pew's party split, which had tilted slightly Democratic in the spring.

The authors note that midterms are won in districts, not on a national ballot. Republicans still have advertising money and a House with few swing seats. An eight-point generic lead is a climate, not a seat transfer. Until 3 November it remains a poll with a margin, not a ballot box.

Image: Architect of the Capitol, west front of the U.S. Capitol, public domain, Wikimedia Commons; the congressional building, not a poll shop in October 2026.

Sources consulted: Trump approval hits record low, handing Democrats a clear midterm edge - The Washington Post; Democrats lead Republicans in House vote choice as Trump approval rating hits record low - ABC News.