A new Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll shows that 45 percent of likely U.S. voters currently approve of President Donald Trump’s job performance, while 53 percent disapprove — a sign of slipping support as the government shutdown continues.
The survey, conducted among 1,500 likely voters, carries a margin of error of ±2.5 percentage points.
According to Rasmussen, Trump’s approval reached its second-term high on January 23, when 56 percent of voters said they approved of his leadership. Since then, his ratings have gradually declined — falling to 47 percent in Aprilafter the rollout of his new tariff policies, and again to 46 percent in October, just as the shutdown began.
Mark Mitchell, Rasmussen’s head pollster, said the dip is largely driven by independent voters, who tend to grow impatient during government shutdowns.
“His approval is dropping, and it’s being driven strongly by independents — as you’d expect in a shutdown,” Mitchell told Newsweek. “We also see voters wanting him to focus more on domestic policy, which is likely adding to the slide.”
Still, Mitchell cautioned against overreaction. “This isn’t as steep as the decline during the last major shutdown,” he said. “And his numbers are still stronger than both Biden’s and Trump’s ratings at comparable points before. It’s not great, but it’s not catastrophic either. Our data also doesn’t show him performing as poorly as some of the so-called ‘fake polls’ out there.”
The Rasmussen results align with other recent polls showing weakening approval for Trump amid economic concerns and political gridlock. A YouGov/The Economist survey found just 39 percent of respondents approved of Trump’s performance — his lowest rating since returning to office — with 58 percent disapproving, putting his net approval at -19 points.
The RealClearPolitics poll average, which aggregates multiple surveys, currently places Trump’s net approval rating at -8.9 points, his lowest level of the second term. That average shows 44.3 percent approval versus 53.2 percent disapproval.
Political analyst Nate Silver, founder of FiveThirtyEight, noted a similar trend. “At the start of last week, Trump’s net approval stood at -9.2 points,” he wrote in a recent post. “By the end of the week, it had dropped further to -10.8.”
While the decline isn’t dramatic, pollsters agree the shutdown and economic unease are weighing on Trump’s public standing — a reminder that even loyal voters may lose patience when Washington grinds to a halt.