President Donald Trump’s approval rating has hit a new second term low amid backlash over his handling of the Iran war and public jibes at Pope Leo XIV, a YouGov poll has revealed.
Among registered US voters, just 41% now approve of the job Trump is doing in The White House, while disapproval has hit 56.9% — the highest since his return to office.
The survey by The Economist and YouGov of 1,707 US adults, carried out between April 17-20, delved into views on President Trump’s
Over half of those surveyed (57%) think the USA is ‘off on the wrong track’ under his leadership. Among those who identify as MAGA, the number is 11%.
In particular, opposition to Trump’s handling of foreign policy has caused the lowest recorded net approval in the poll during Trump’s second term, dropping to -18.
Disapproval of the 79-year-old’s handling of foreign policy sits at 54%. An overwhelming majority of Americans (70%) say the US should make a deal to end the war as quickly as possible — though the poll suggests few believe the US and Iran will reach such an agreement in the next fortnight.
Only 31% support the war with Iran, while 58% oppose it.
26% of those who voted for Trump in 2024 believe he should have sought authorisation from Congress before ordering strikes on Iran.
Trump recently turned his attention to criticising the Pope on social media, saying he is ‘WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy’, while also posting an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure, drawing widespread criticism before it was removed.
However, the poll found that 48% sided with Leo’s views on Iran, compared with just 28% who backed President Trump and Vice President VD Vance.
In general, 55% saw Leo in a favourable light, while 24% did not.
A majority of those asked (52%) think that America’s standing in the world has worsened since Trump took office in 2025. This includes 90% of Democrats and 10% of Republicans.
Views on military force, unsurprisingly, tend to differ by party. While 77% of Democrats believe the US should use less military force abroad, Republican opinion is more split. 10% think the US should use force abroad more often, 50% want it unchanged, 27% support using less force abroad, and 13% are unsure.
When asked about finances and bills less than half (42%) say they will definitely have enough money to pay this month’s bills. 14% say they likely, or definitely, will not.
Meanwhile, 47% of those polled say that gas prices where they live are going up ‘a lot’. However, that’s a drop from last week, when the number was 55% — though that doesn’t account for the prices going up less but still being considered expensive.
When asked about Triumphal Arch, a controversial proposal from Trump to build a 250-foot monument in Washington, D.C. estimated to cost £11,000,000, only 26% favoured it.
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