President Donald Trump’s public standing has fallen to a new low for his second term, according to findings from the latest national survey conducted by the Marquette University Law School. The data indicates that a brief pause in the president’s polling slump has ended, with voter sentiment resuming a downward trajectory as the critical November midterm elections approach.
The survey, made public on Tuesday, September 15, reveals that only 37 percent of American adults approve of Trump’s overall job performance. This marks a three-percentage-point decrease from Marquette’s previous survey conducted in July, highlighting ongoing difficulties for the administration in maintaining broad public backing across the country.
This 37 percent rating stands as the lowest mark recorded in Marquette University’s ongoing presidential tracking since Trump took office again in early 2025. The president's prior second-term low in the Marquette poll occurred in June, when his approval rating registered at 38 percent before undergoing minor fluctuations during the summer months.
The Marquette University Law School poll was carried out between September 2 and September 9, sampling 1,023 adults nationwide. The research team noted that the survey carries a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points, accounting for standard statistical variance among the general public.
Beyond the decline in top-line job performance, the survey reveals a pronounced weakening in the intensity of the president’s base support. When Trump commenced his second term, 29 percent of Americans reported that they strongly approved of the way he was handling his responsibilities, but that figure has steadily decreased and now stands at just 15 percent.
The president’s diminished popularity appears to be significantly benefiting the Democratic Party in the legislative arena. With control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate hanging in the balance, the Marquette survey indicates that Democrats have substantially improved their standing on the generic congressional ballot.
Among likely voters, Democratic congressional candidates currently hold a 13-percentage-point advantage over their Republican counterparts. This represents a seven-point expansion of the Democratic lead since July, when the party held a narrower six-point edge over the GOP.
A similar trend is visible among registered voters, where Democrats have established a 12-percentage-point lead. The movement in this category has been particularly pronounced, as the Democratic advantage over Republicans stood at just two percentage points in Marquette’s July polling.
Conversely, Republican candidates have experienced declining momentum on the generic ballot, with support for the GOP dropping four percentage points compared to July levels. This shift suggests that voter dissatisfaction with the administration could complicate Republican efforts to retain or capture majorities in Congress.
The drop in the president's overall rating is accompanied by widespread declines across key policy areas. The Marquette poll tracked public sentiment across eight major subjects—border security, immigration, foreign policy, tariffs, the economy, the war with Iran, gas prices, and inflation—finding that Trump’s approval slipped in every single category compared to July.
Economic concerns remain a significant drag on public sentiment, with only 19 percent of surveyed Americans expressing approval of Trump’s handling of inflation and the cost of living. In a related finding regarding daily household expenses, the president secured an approval rating of only 20 percent on the issue of gas prices.
Even on issues that have traditionally served as cornerstones of the president’s political appeal, support has eroded. Both immigration and border security registered measurable declines in the September poll, with approval of the administration’s handling of border security slipping below the 50 percent threshold.
The release of the Marquette poll follows mixed signals from other major national surveys. On Monday, September 14, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Trump’s approval rating edging upward by two percentage points to 35 percent, offering a minor rebound after three straight weeks of record lows in that specific tracker since his 2025 return to office.
However, the slight uptick in the Reuters/Ipsos presidential rating did not translate into better numbers for congressional Republicans. In that same survey, the GOP lagged behind Democrats by seven percentage points on the generic congressional ballot, marking the widest deficit Republicans have faced in that poll since the start of Trump’s second term.
Major polling aggregators also confirm that the president remains significantly underwater nationwide as of mid-September. RealClearPolitics calculated Trump’s average standing at 40 percent approval against 57.8 percent disapproval, while The New York Times tracker placed him at 39 percent approval and 58 percent disapproval.
Similarly, the Silver Bulletin polling average recorded Trump’s net ratings at 38.4 percent approval and 58.5 percent disapproval. Together, these broad benchmarks and individual surveys underscore the steep political challenges facing the White House as voters prepare to head to the polls for the midterms.
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