Three new polls: the numbers keep getting worse for Trump – Daily Kos
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Three new polls dropped this week — from Emerson College, YouGov/Economist, and the Strength in Numbers/Verasight tracker. They show that Trump’s approval is either at or near record lows, the economic anxiety driving that disapproval is getting worse, and the erosion is showing up in groups that used to be reliably in his corner.
The three polls show Trump’s overall approval rating in a tight cluster: 34% (YouGov/Economist), 37% (Verasight), and 39% (Emerson). That spread largely reflects differences in sample frame — YouGov and Verasight poll all adults, while Emerson polls likely voters. Registered and likely voter samples have been running roughly 3 points higher than all-adults numbers across pollsters all year, so these figures are actually in close agreement once you account for that. The Verasight net approval of -23 and the YouGov net of -26 are likewise consistent.
The YouGov number is the most striking: 34% is a record low for Trump across both of his terms — and lower than Joe Biden’s approval ever fell.
The YouGov data shows Trump hitting record-low net approval among men (-19) and among white Americans (-13) — both groups central to his political coalition. His net among Republicans is still positive (+61), but that’s also a new second-term low.
Independents are the clearest signal: YouGov has Trump at -44 net among independents, a record low for his second term.
The Verasight/Morris data adds another dimension: when voters are asked which party they trust more to handle their personal most important problem, Democrats lead by 13 points (49% to 36%). A year ago, in May 2025, that same question showed Democrats at D+4. That’s a 9-point swing in twelve months, and it’s being driven by voters who used to trust Republicans more on the economy.
Verasight has been tracking Trump’s approval on handling prices and inflation monthly: -31 in January, -35 in February, -40 in March, -46 in April, -47 in May. It has gotten worse every single month of 2026. Just 25% of Americans approve of how he’s handling the cost of living, and 57% — more than half of all U.S. adults — strongly disapprove. (It might be fair to say that that 25% is reflecting his core MAGA cult).
Thirty-nine percent of Americans now name prices as the single most important problem facing the country, a record in Verasight’s polling and nearly three times the next-closest issue.
YouGov finds 63% saying the economy is getting worse (the second straight week at that level), and 43% saying their family is worse off financially than a year ago — the highest since 2024. Only 10% say they’re better off.
Trump is underwater on essentially every issue tested. Verasight has him at -28 on health care, -25 on jobs and the economy, -23 on foreign policy, -22 on elections and democracy, and -21 on trade. The one exception is border security, where he sits at exactly net zero (48/48).
The political consequence of all this is that Democrats have flipped the issue trust numbers on the economy. In 2024, Republicans held a clear advantage on prices and jobs. Verasight now shows Democrats +10 on prices and +8 on jobs — a complete reversal of one of the core dynamics that drove the 2024 election result.
All three polls that asked the generic ballot question show Democrats ahead:
So these numbers are no longer outliers…at the moment, the generic ballot is advantaging Dems by 9-11 points. When we include the very low approval rating of the current administration and the D+13 average overperformance in recent elections, a Democratic gain of 40-50 seats in the House is optimistic but entirely plausible. And, of course, it helps to put the Senate that much closer in reach.
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