Donald Trump is running out of time to lift dismal approval ratings only weeks out from the midterm elections, with voters in a new FT poll continuing to give him low marks on his handling of the US economy.
Just one-quarter of registered voters approve of the president’s handling of jobs and the economy, while roughly one-fifth approve of his handling of inflation, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the FT and Focaldata.
The findings come as Trump has thrown himself into congressional campaigns and as Republican lawmakers urge him to do more to address voter concerns about the rising cost of living. The party has also flooded the airwaves with ads to help candidates in tight races.
More than two-thirds of respondents to the FT poll said the economy is headed in the wrong direction. The US economy added just 29,000 jobs in September, falling well short of economists’ expectations and raising doubts about the resilience of the labour market.
Trump’s overall approval rating also remained stubbornly low at 34 per cent. Forty-five per cent of registered voters said the president was making it harder for Republican candidates to win in November.
The findings align with the Cook Political Report’s assessment of a deteriorating electoral environment for Republicans. The non-partisan outlet recently moved 18 House races towards Democrats in its rating of race competitiveness and projected that Democrats will gain nine to 19 House seats in November.
Registered voters said they preferred Democrats to Republicans by over five percentage points, according to the FT poll.
The poll also revealed widespread disagreement with Trump’s policy priorities on artificial intelligence and Iran. Roughly two-thirds said they favoured binding federal rules for AI companies and a more cautious pace of development — positions that cut against the president’s emphasis on voluntary safeguards and rapid innovation.
Trump’s approval rating on Iran has fallen by more than seven percentage points since May, with less than one-quarter of registered voters now approving of his handling of the conflict.
Nearly two-thirds of registered voters said the US should prioritise reaching an agreement as soon as possible, rather than continuing the conflict until it secures more favourable terms. Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in late September as the war entered its eighth month.
The conflict has driven up US borrowing costs and petrol prices in recent months. US diesel prices, the workhorse fuel for American industry and agriculture, hit an all-time high of $6.53 late last month, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Despite the president’s eroding popularity with his own base, Republican voters remain loyal to their party, whose midterm performance could hinge on whether dissatisfied Trump voters and independents can separate their views of the president from their support of his party.
Less than 70 per cent of registered voters who backed Trump in 2024 now approve of his performance, down from 80 per cent in May, when the FT first began polling voters. Yet 80 per cent still intend to vote for the Republican candidate in their district come November — a share that has remained largely unchanged over the same period.
The FT poll was conducted online by Focaldata, a London-based, non-partisan research company, October 2-4. It reflects the opinions of 2,275 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.