President Donald Trump’s national recognition rating is red, but in about half of the state, more people are approving his work performance.
The state legislature can determine Trump’s political future. Pushing to add more Republican seats to redraw the map of Texas’ legislature is rising up a bit as they threaten to do the same thing Texas advances. That’s because Democrats are trying to regain control of the US home in the midterm elections, and doing so would overturn Trump’s efforts to take office for the past two years.
Trump’s approval ratings remain historically low nationwide, but looking at state-by-state surveys show a more complicated picture. Here’s what we know:
Trump has positive approval ratings in 27 states
Trump’s approval rates surpass water in 27 states. This comes from an August 12 update from Morning Consult, which has attracted three months of votes to look at state-level data among registered voters. The number of states has not changed since the July update.
Trump is the most popular in Wyoming morning consultations, with 66% of voters approving his job performance, and the least popular in Vermont.
However, his approval is net negative in two states that have a governor race this fall: New Jersey and Virginia, according to Morning Consulting.
In Texas, 53% of voters approve Trump’s performance, while 44% disapprove. In California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened to counter the changes in Texas district change, 41% have approved Trump’s job performance, and 56% have disapproved. California is Trump’s seventh worst rating in the state, according to Morning Consulting.
What is Trump’s overall approval?
The RealClearpolitics poll average shows Trump’s approval ratings have become more negative throughout the first few weeks of July. Aggregated polls by the New York Times show similar trends.
As of January 27th, Trump received a +6.2 percentage points approval rating, but as of March 13th, it reversed slightly negatively, and there is no show for RealClearpolitics graphics. Approval rating reached the most negative on April 29th, at -7.2% points. This fell around Trump’s 100 Day mark. The controversy over Epstein was published in week three, which again approached that low on July 22nd and 23rd at -7.1 percentage points.
His average approval margin as of August 12th is -5.4 percentage points, according to RealClearPolitics. According to a New York Times aggregator on August 12th, the approval margin is -8% points.
How does Trump’s approval rating compare to his previous president?
Historical analysis by Gallup shows that Trump’s first few years of office approval ratings in July – both the 45th and 47th presidents are lower than any other modern president at the same time in power.
In a Gallup poll conducted July 7-21, 37% approved Trump’s job performance. According to Gallup, here is how it is compared to other presidents in July of the first year of his term:
- Joe Biden (July 2021) – 50% approval
- Trump (July 2017) – 38% approved
- Barack Obama (July 2009) – 57% approval
- George W. Bush (July 2001) – 55% approval
- Bill Clinton (July 1993) – 43% approval
- George HW Bush (July 1989) – 66% approval
- Ronald Reagan (July 1981) – 59% approval
Kinsey Crowley is a Trump Connect reporter for the USA Today Network. Contact her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and Tiktok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
