President Donald Trump’s overall job approval stood at 35% in a nationwide survey completed today, holding steady with a mid-May measurement and hovering close to the administration’s most recent trough. The Reuters/Ipsos poll recorded 35% approval, slightly above the 34% level reported in April that marked the lowest point in his current term. For context reported within the poll, the first-term low reached 33% in December 2017.
The survey included a range of issue-specific questions. On the outlook for fuel costs, 59% of respondents said they expect U.S. gasoline prices to get worse over the next year, while 17% said they expect prices to improve. The remainder of respondents indicated they either expected prices to stay the same or were unsure.
When asked about the administration’s handling of the cost of living for U.S. households, 22% of Americans expressed approval and 70% expressed disapproval. The poll materials noted that this approval figure is below the 29% approval recorded for Joe Biden on this same issue at the conclusion of his term, when disapproval stood at 63%.
On matters of national security and recent military action, 36% of those surveyed said they approved of U.S. strikes on Iran. Separately, 25% of respondents judged that the benefits of the strikes were worth the costs.
The poll also gauged partisan preferences for Congress. Registered voters indicated they would choose Democratic candidates over Republican candidates by a margin of 41% to 37% if congressional elections were held today. On which party has the better plan for managing the economy, 36% of voters favored the Democrats while 37% favored the Republicans.
The nationwide online poll collected responses from 4,531 U.S. adults and reported a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
Key details in the poll - including approval ratings on broad job performance, cost of living, and reactions to military action - remain closely divided in several areas, while public expectations for gasoline prices skew markedly negative.