Trump Approval Rating Hits Record Low as Gas Prices and Iran War Weigh on Public Opinion – foreignpolicyjournal.com
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By Timothy Mason | May 8, 2026 | Energy, Featured, News & Analysis, Politics
President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to the lowest point of his second term, with multiple polls published in late April and early May 2026 painting a consistent picture of a public that has grown increasingly dissatisfied with his handling of the economy, the ongoing military conflict with Iran, and the soaring cost of fuel.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on April 28th put Trump’s overall approval at just 34%, the weakest reading since he returned to the White House and a figure that reflects mounting frustration across a range of policy areas, with only 22% of respondents expressing support for the president’s management of the cost of living.
An NPR/PBS News/Marist poll published on May 6th produced equally sobering findings, recording a 59% disapproval rating against 37% approval and describing the disapproval figure as the highest the survey has ever recorded for this presidency, with the polling conducted between April 27th and 30th among 1,322 respondents and carrying a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
The Iran conflict has emerged as a defining factor in the polling decline, with the US-Israel military campaign against Tehran having driven energy prices significantly higher after Iran moved to block shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint responsible for a substantial share of global oil supply.
National average petrol prices reached $4.48 per gallon as of May 5th, according to data from AAA, a dramatic increase from the sub-$3 per gallon average that prevailed before the conflict began, and a development that has placed considerable strain on household budgets across the country.
Some 81% of respondents in the Marist survey said that current fuel costs were creating a financial strain for their household, a figure that included 79% of Republican voters, underlining how the issue has cut across party lines in a way that few economic pressures in recent years have managed to achieve.
By a margin of 63% to 37%, those surveyed said they held Trump personally responsible for the increase in fuel prices, a direct attribution of blame that also included one third of Republicans, suggesting his base is not entirely insulated from the frustration driving the broader numbers down.
Trump’s handling of the Iran situation specifically was approved by just 33% of respondents in the Marist poll, down from 36% in March though within the survey’s margin of error, while 72% of Republicans still backed his approach to the conflict, a number that has nonetheless slipped seven points since the earlier reading.
When asked whether the military action in Iran had done more harm than good for the United States, 61% said it had caused more harm, a view shared by one in four Republican respondents and suggesting that even within the president’s political coalition, doubts about the conflict’s wisdom are beginning to take hold.
On the question of the midterm elections, respondents favoured a Democratic candidate in their local congressional race by a margin of 52% to 42%, a gap that historically has indicated the possibility of a wave election, though analysts caution that structural factors including redistricting mean fewer competitive seats are in play than at comparable moments in previous election cycles.
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Timothy Mason is a senior reporter at the Foreign Policy Journal, covering current affairs and business news. He studied Economics at the University of Michigan and has worked as a journalist for over seven years.
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