Trump hits lowest approval ever as he loses grip on MAGA

Washington, D.C. – November 24, 2025

President Donald J. Trump's approval rating has cratered to its lowest ebb of his encore White House tenure, according to a devastating new national survey released Monday. The poll, conducted by the Daily Mail in partnership with leading pollster Quantus Insights, paints a portrait of a commander-in-chief adrift—hemorrhaging support not just from independents and Democrats, but from the very bedrock of his MAGA movement on the issues that once propelled him to populist stardom.

The findings are stark: Just 37% of registered voters approve of Trump's job performance, a bruising 10-point nosedive from his 47% honeymoon high in February, with 59% now voicing outright disapproval. This marks the single worst mark in any major poll during his second term, eclipsing even the doldrums of his first administration's nadir in late 2017. Net approval? A dismal -22 points. And it's not merely a blip—multiple surveys this month, from Fox News (41% approve) to Reuters/Ipsos (38%) and CNN/SSRS (37%), corroborate the freefall, with Nate Silver's Silver Bulletin pegging today's aggregate at a second-term low of 41.2% approval against 55.9% disapproval.

What makes this poll truly shattering isn't the headline number—though it's grim enough to evoke memories of Trump's post-January 6 abyss—but the granular unraveling of his grip on the "America First" trifecta that built his brand: the economy, immigration, and unrelenting attacks on the "deep state." For a president who stormed back into office vowing to "Make America Great Again, Again," the betrayal by these signature issues signals a potential death knell for his legislative ambitions ahead of the 2026 midterms.On the economy, Trump's once-unassailable fortress, the poll delivers a gut punch. Only 32% of respondents approve of his handling of inflation and cost-of-living woes—down a staggering 18 points since July—while a whopping 64% disapprove. Everyday Americans, squeezed by beef prices at record highs and a government shutdown that lingered into October, are laying the blame squarely at Trump's feet. "Voters think the Trump administration’s policies have hurt the economy more than helped it," notes Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who co-directs the Fox News survey. In a twist of irony, 62% of those polled hold Trump more accountable for the current economic malaise than his predecessor Joe Biden, flipping a script that once favored the GOP on fiscal matters.

Immigration, the fiery rallying cry that galvanized Trump's 2016 ascent and fueled his 2024 comeback, fares even worse. Approval on border security and deportation efforts has slumped to 28%, with independents—the swing voters who handed him razor-thin victories in key states—fleeing in droves at a 19-point net negative. Intensified ICE raids and refugee cuts, once MAGA catnip, now elicit backlash amid reports of family separations and overcrowded facilities. "Only 10% cite immigration as a top concern," the CNN poll echoes, dwarfed by 26% fretting over threats to democracy.

Even in deep-red bastions like Oklahoma and Kentucky, Trump's net approval has flipped negative for the first time, per The Economist's state-by-state tracker—a canary in the coal mine for Republican incumbents eyeing re-election.

And then there's the Epstein albatross, a scandal that has metastasized into a full-blown crisis of trust. The poll shows a mere 20% approving of Trump's stewardship of the Jeffrey Epstein files probe—plummeting to 44% even among Republicans—as conspiracy theories swirl over alleged cover-ups of the financier's elite client list. The Reuters/Ipsos survey ties this directly to the approval plunge, with 70% of Americans believing the government is concealing Epstein's secrets and 61% suspicious about his death.

"This is probably the biggest test of his presidency in terms of his grip on the Republican Party," warns independent strategist Mike Ongstad. Whispers of House Republicans defying Trump to force a vote on releasing the files underscore the fissures: His once-ironclad 87% GOP approval has softened to 82% in recent snapshots, a 5-point erosion that could prove fatal in primaries.

The demographic deluge is equally unforgiving. Young voters under 30, who tilted positive toward Trump at inauguration (+3 net), now skew -41; Hispanics and Blacks, already skeptical, have cratered further; even whites have dipped into negative territory (-2 net).

Every state but Idaho has swung against him, with Oklahoma's 27-point positive flipping to -7. Democrats, sensing blood, report unusual midterm enthusiasm at 44% "very enthusiastic" to vote, outpacing Republicans' 26%.

From the White House briefing room, Trump dismissed the numbers as "fake news from failing pollsters" during a Monday rally in Ohio, touting his "like a rock" 87% Republican loyalty—still 10 points above Obama or Bush at this juncture—and claiming the "golden age of America" is nigh.

As midterms loom, with 41% of voters signaling their congressional ballots will rebuke Trump, the question hangs heavy: Can the dealmaker-in-chief claw back his MAGA magic, or is this the beginning of the end for the Trump dynasty?The Quantus Insights poll surveyed 1,200 registered voters from November 18-22, with a margin of error of ±3.2%. Cross-tabs reveal independents at a mere 31% approval, while healthcare—another MAGA blind spot—draws Trump's rock-bottom 29% nod, with voters favoring Democrats' cost-reduction blueprint by 12 points.