Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to a record low of 31%, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday. The result marks the weakest reading of his presidency and comes less than three weeks before the United States votes in its midterm elections.

Approval slips while disapproval stays high

The poll put Trump one point below his previous Reuters/Ipsos reading of 32%. It also found that 66% of Americans disapprove of the Trump administration, underscoring the pressure on the White House as the campaign season enters its final stretch.

The four-day online survey reached 1,679 adults in the United States, including 1,279 registered voters. Reuters/Ipsos said the margin of error was two percentage points for all respondents and three points for registered voters.

Democrats widen their edge on the generic ballot

In the same poll, Democrats led Republicans 47% to 35% on the generic congressional ballot, a 12-point margin and the largest in this election cycle. Two weeks earlier, that gap was seven points.

Advertisement

The survey also found that women were a major part of the Democratic edge. Half of the women polled said they would vote Democratic, compared with 32% who backed Republicans. On the economy, 40% said Democrats handled it better, against 33% for Republicans.

The generic ballot is a national measure of voter preference and does not break down the results state by state or district by district. That means it gives a broad read on public mood, but not a forecast for each individual race.

Why the poll matters for November 3

The midterm elections on November 3 will decide all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 Senate seats. A separate Reuters-linked report said Americans are angry about rising living costs and gasoline prices, and some coverage tied that mood to the US-Israel war on Iran.

Because the survey is national, it cannot show exactly where seats will change hands. But it does show a White House facing weak approval and an opposition party entering the final weeks with a wider lead than it had earlier in the cycle.