President Donald Trump is reported to have a -9% net approval rating and a -13% approval index rating to start 2026, according to Rasmussen Reports.

The polling site reports that 30% of respondents "strongly approve" Trump compared to 43% who "strongly disapprove" in the poll for Monday (January 5), the first released in the new year. The president is also reported to have a 45% total approval rating to a 54% total disapproval rating, according to the website.

Trump was reported to have net approval rating at around -13 entering 2026, according to famed polling expert Nate Silver in his Silver Bulletin blog. Silver acknowledged that "people aren't going to pay much attention to polls released during the holidays" and Trump's net approval rating average "has been hovering around -13 since mid-December," but claimed he expected "poll releases to pick back up" during the first week of the new year.

Trump was reported to have an average net approval rating of -9.9 to end his first year in office, according to RealClearPolling.com. The president was reported to have an average 43.4% approval rating and a 53.3% disapproval rating among several national polls conducted in the final days of 2025.

Trump's approval rating has seen a massive plunge since taking office, according to CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten. Enten reported that Trump had a +6 net approval rating in January, which has since dropped to -12 in December while appearing on Inside Politics Sunday.

“Look, 2025 was not exactly the best year for the president of the United States. He started off in pretty gosh darn good territory, right? Trump’s net approval rating in January, he was 6 points above water, pretty much above where he was during his entire first term in office. But look what happens come December—12 points underwater. Way, way down there. That is an 18-point decline during the course of the year,” Enten said.

The polling guru said the massive drop was caused by a decrease in support among independent voters.

"Now, what has driven Donald Trump’s decline in his net approval rating? Well, it’s independents. That is the name of the game, baby,” Enten said.

“Look, in January, Donald Trump’s approval rating among independents was about even, minus one point. Not too hot to trot, but not too bad either. Now, we’re talking about 43 points underwater come December. That is a decline of 42 points on his net approval rating,” he added.

Last week, Trump was reported to have the lowest approval rating to end their first year in the last 50 years, according to a Gallup poll. The president reportedly had a 36% overall approval rating among American voters, which tied the percentage he previously set in December 2017 for the lowest among presidents at the end of their first year in office, and a 50% approval rating when he took office in January, which has steadily declined over the course of his second of two non-consecutive terms in office.

Trump was also reported to have his lowest approval ratings ever for his handling of the economy, according to a recent Marist poll. Trump's economic handling is reported to have dropped to 37%, which is the lowest percentage for both of his two non-consecutive terms in office, with 57% disapproving and 10% saying they were unsure.

The president also had a 38% overall approval rating, with 54% of respondents disapproving and 8% saying they were unsure.

“This is a major problem for him,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, via PBS News. “When affordability is so front and center in people’s minds, that’s going to be laid at the doorstep of a chief executive.”

Trump's approval rating is also reported to have lost some ground among his 'Make America Great Again' base, according to the latest NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey. Two groups, those who identify as Republican and, particularly, those who claim to be part of the MAGA movement, have seen a significant drop in support since a previous poll conducted in April.

The number of voters who identify more as Republicans than part of the MAGA movement who "strongly approve" of Trump have dropped from 38% in April to 35% in the latest poll, while MAGA Republicans who "strongly approve" of the president have decreased from 78% in April to 70% currently. Additionally, fewer Republicans are identifying with the MAGA movement overall, with the party evenly split at 50% on whether they identify with the movement compared to the traditional Republican Party.

Kenny Webster

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