By Sam StevensonShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberPresident Donald Trump’s approval ratings 10 months into his second term show persistent divides across the United States.
Recent Civiqs polling underscores that Trump's popularity remains highest in traditionally Republican states such as Wyoming and Idaho.
But the president continues to face significant headwinds in Democratic states such as Hawaii and battleground states like Michigan. Overall, Civiqs puts his net approval at 39 percent, with his net disapproval rating standing at 56 percent.
Why It Matters
Regional splits have implications for the approaching 2026 midterms, potentially shaping party strategies, the makeup of Congress, and the president’s policy platform.
Sustained negative net approval in swing states may motivate increased turnout among opposition voters and create complications for Republican candidates running in contested districts.
What To Know
According to a new state-by-state breakdown, Trump's approval ratings remain positive in several Republican-dominated states, with the highest net approvals in Wyoming (+34 percent), West Virginia (+27 percent), Idaho (+23 percent), North Dakota (+18 percent), Montana (+17 percent), and Oklahoma (+17 percent).
In these states, Trump's base remains strong, continuing the trend seen in earlier periods of his presidency.
Other states posting positive net ratings include Alabama (+16 percent), South Dakota (+16 percent), Arkansas (+14 percent), Kentucky (+12 percent), and Utah (+12 percent).
Conversely, the president is experiencing significant disapproval in historically Democratic states, according to the polling.
Hawaii reports a net approval of -55 percent, Vermont sits at -50 percent, Maryland at -44 percent, Massachusetts at -42 percent, California and Rhode Island at -40 percent, and Washington and Oregon at -36 percent.
In populous states such as New York (-32 percent) and Illinois (-29 percent), the figures further reinforce national partisan divides.
...The battleground states that determined the 2024 election present a challenging landscape for the administration.
Trump's net approval stands at -12 percent in Arizona, -13 percent in Pennsylvania, -15 percent in Michigan and Nevada, -14 percent in Georgia, -11 percent in Wisconsin, and -8 percent in North Carolina.
Florida, Texas, and Ohio are all at -6 percent, maintaining the pattern of net-negative standings in all major swing states.
Overall, Trump’s net approval is underwater in most of the country by this measure, despite holding steady among his core supporters.
On average, national tracker polls place Trump’s approval rating at or below approximately 42 percent as of late November, generally consistent with, or lower than, numbers from his previous term.
Aggregated polling from The New York Times and RealClearPolitics indicates that since mid-September, the president's approval has trended downward, with a recent Fox News poll showing only 38 percent approve of Trump's handling of the economy.
What People Are Saying
Polling expert Nate Silver wrote in a recent post on X: “Trump's disapproval rating (55.9 percent) now exceeds the figure from a comparable point in his first term (54.9 percent). His net approval rating is still slightly better than his 1st term. But the trajectory remains negative.”
Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson said earlier this month: “Trump is great at turning out voters. The problem is that he’s great at turning out Democrats even when he’s not on the ballot.”
Republican pollster Daron Shaw told Fox News: “The situation isn’t complicated. People are struggling to afford necessities and blaming those in charge. What’s interesting is watching Democrats gain politically from a problem they arguably caused—and that crushed them in 2024. But that’s politics.”
What Happens Next
With the 2026 midterm elections on the horizon, Trump's persistent sub-majority approval ratings present significant obstacles for the Republican Party.
Historical trends dating back to World War II suggest that presidents with approval ratings below 50 percent tend to see their parties suffer congressional losses during midterm cycles.
Ultimately, Trump’s ability to improve his standing in battleground and Democratic-leaning states could prove decisive for both his legislative agenda and his party’s electoral fortunes in 2026.
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