President Donald Trump's approval rating has dropped to 32%, the lowest point of his political career, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. The survey found that just 17% of Americans approve of how he's handling the cost of living, a number that helps explain why even members of his own party are starting to peel away.
The poll, surveying 1,277 US adults nationwide with a margin of error of 3 percentage points, was reported by Reuters.
What makes this moment especially precarious for Trump is the erosion happening inside his own coalition. Republican approval of the president fell from 82% the previous week to 73%. That kind of intra-party frustration rarely shows up this starkly in polling.
A War That Was Supposed to Last Weeks
Much of the pressure traces back to the war Trump launched against Iran in February, which he initially said would last only a few weeks. Iran has shown no sign of giving up, and the poll found that 79% of respondents believe the conflict will likely continue for an extended period. Trump has pledged the war would end immediately after the election, even as 29% of poll respondents approve of his handling of Iran, while constrained oil shipments continue to disrupt energy markets.
The economic fallout from that conflict has been swift. The Iran conflict has contributed to regional disruption and elevated fuel prices, threatening broader inflation in the US and beyond, per Reuters. The stakes are structural: according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, almost 20% of oil traded worldwide and about 35% of seaborne traded oil passed daily through the Strait of Hormuz in 2011, making it a critical maritime energy chokepoint — and alternative pipeline routes can only reroute a small fraction of that flow.
J.P. Morgan reported that the United States national average diesel price reached $6.23 per gallon on September 14, 2026, a spike Hoodline covered in gas price coverage in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Diesel moves roughly 90% of US freight tonnage and powers more than two-thirds of farm equipment, meaning the price shock ripples well beyond the pump.
Immigration and Crime Numbers Slip Too
Trump's other signature issues are also softening. On immigration, the focus remains on the ICE crackdown.
Congress Feels the Squeeze
The political consequences are already visible on Capitol Hill. On September 16, the House voted 220-204 to approve a War Powers resolution directing Trump to end military action against Iran, with seven Republicans defecting to join Democrats — the highest level of GOP defections on the war to date, according to CBS News. It was the third such vote of the year, a dynamic Hoodline detailed in its report on the Iran war powers vote. Pentagon reports put the war's cost at at least $42 billion as of the previous month, while the Congressional Budget Office estimated about $38 billion through August 1 and projected monthly costs of $2 billion to $3 billion.
The midterm elections will determine control of Congress.
