Financial Times poll shows decline in Donald Trump's approval rating

Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to a record low, according to a new FT poll that lays bare how voters have soured on the US president’s handling of the economy and cost of living.

With less than two months to go until November’s midterm elections, the latest nationwide poll conducted by Focaldata found just 33 per cent of registered voters approved of Trump’s performance as president — the lowest number recorded since the FT first started asking the question in May and a three-point drop from the previous month.

The president’s approval rating among Republican voters also slipped by more than two points, to 72 per cent — another all-time low for the FT survey.

The poll suggested that voters’ darkening sentiment on the economy and the cost of living was to blame for Trump’s dismal numbers, with most of those polled rejecting the president’s tariffs and trade policy.

The survey comes as the president appears unable to end his war in Iran, which has driven up US borrowing costs and prices for fuel and consumer goods over the past six months.

On Friday, the US price of diesel, the workhorse fuel for American industry and agriculture, hit an all-time high of $5.85 a gallon, according to the AAA motoring group, threatening to send another wave of inflation through the world’s biggest economy.

The poll’s findings will make for grim reading in the White House as Republicans seek to keep control of the US House and Senate in November’s midterms. While Trump will not be on the ballot, midterm elections are widely seen as a referendum on the current president’s leadership.

Nearly two-thirds of registered voters told pollsters the economy was headed in the wrong direction, and 57 per cent said they were financially worse off under the Trump presidency — a four-point increase over last month, when 53 per cent of voters said they were worse off.

Among Republican voters, just 53 per cent said they approved of the president’s handling of jobs and the economy, a nearly 8-point drop from the previous month.

On trade, 56 per cent of registered voters, including more than 60 per cent of independents and nearly one-third of Republicans, said they disapproved of Trump’s latest decision to impose a 50 per cent tariff on roughly $20bn of Canadian goods. The move prompted retaliatory tariffs from Ottawa of up to 50 per cent on US imports, escalating the trade war and raising concerns about higher prices for consumers.

Trump has put himself at the heart of the Republican campaign heading into the midterms. The Republican National Committee will this coming week hold an unprecedented two-day midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, headlined by the president, to try to drum up support from voters.

But the FT poll suggests the strategy may backfire. Forty-six per cent of voters, including more than half of independents, said Trump was making it harder for Republican congressional candidates to win in November. Forty-seven per cent of independents said a Trump endorsement would make them less likely to support a candidate.

Registered voters gave Democrats a 7.5-point lead over Republicans when asked who they were likely to vote for, up from a 5-point lead last month.

Republican candidates in battleground districts told the FT this week that they were anxious to see Maga Inc, the Super Pac that backed Trump’s presidential run, spend its $400mn campaign war chest to support them. In a filing on Saturday, Maga Inc disclosed it was spending $10mn on ads supporting Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton against Democrat James Talarico.

“Although President Trump has always been clear about temporary disruptions as a result of Operation Epic Fury, the administration remains committed to implementing a proven economic agenda of tax cuts, deregulation and energy abundance,” a White House spokesman said.

“The August jobs report is the latest proof that this agenda continues to create private-sector jobs and drive America’s reindustrialization — with more growth and relief ahead for everyday Americans.”The FT poll was conducted online by Focaldata, a London-based, non-partisan research company, from August 28 to September 1. It reflects the opinions of 1,914 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.