Trump approval falls to record-low 31% in Reuters/Ipsos poll; Democrats lead generic ballot 47% to 35%

As of 8:24 p.m. ET, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026

Thirty-one percent of Americans approve of President Donald Trump's performance in office, down 1 percentage point from two weeks earlier and the lowest level in either of his presidential terms, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed Monday, Oct. 19, Reuters reported. Sixty-six percent disapprove, according to Ipsos' topline results.

Asked which party they would vote for if the congressional elections were held today, 47% of registered voters picked Democrats and 35% chose Republicans, Reuters reported. The 12-point Democratic advantage was the widest of the current election cycle, according to Reuters. A Reuters/Ipsos poll two weeks earlier showed Democrats ahead 44% to 37% among registered voters, according to Ipsos' topline for that survey.

Fifty percent of female voters said they would vote Democratic, compared with 32% who said they would back Republican candidates, Reuters reported. Men also favored Democrats, but by a smaller margin, according to Reuters.

Sixty-eight percent of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy, including 37% of self-identified Republicans, Reuters reported. Voters in the poll picked Democrats over Republicans as better stewards of the economy, 40% to 33%, according to Reuters.

Generic ballot polls give a national view of which party respondents want in charge of Congress but do not capture the state-by-state and district-by-district contests that decide control of the House and Senate, Reuters noted.

The poll was conducted Oct. 16-19 by Ipsos using its probability-based KnowledgePanel and gathered responses from 1,679 U.S. adults, including 1,279 registered voters, according to Ipsos. Reuters said the survey was conducted online. Ipsos put the margin of sampling error at plus or minus 2.4 percentage points for all adults and 2.8 points for registered voters.

A separate poll, by The Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos and conducted Oct. 9-13, put Trump's approval at 33% among U.S. adults, as GROKsiNEWS.com reported Sunday.