President Donald Trump’s popularity has cratered deeper than most political observers expected — so far down that CNN’s own chief polling guru is openly stunned by it.
CNN data analyst Harry Enten — not exactly known for dramatic hyperbole — laid out the numbers this week and they are ugly. After averaging recent surveys from AP-NORC, NBC News, Yahoo-YouGov and Quinnipiac, Trump’s net approval rating now sits at about -22 — meaning more than twice as many Americans disapprove of him as approve. By comparison, Joe Biden was at -13 in a similar phase of his presidency, and Trump himself was around -12 at this point in his first term.
“What are we talking about? AP-NORC, 26 points below water. NBC, 22 points below water. Yahoo-YouGov, 20 points below the water. Quinnipiac, 19 points below water,” Enten said, rattling off a consistent trend across pollsters that shouldn’t be ignored.
That’s not a bad poll. That’s an historic plunge — so deep that even seasoned political pros are asking, “Where’s the floor?”
Independents — voters who often decide elections — are absolutely done with Trump. Enten’s analysis shows net approval among this group sinking sharply, tipping the balance toward disapproval in significant numbers. That’s a huge gut-punch to a president who once relied on independents to get elected.
Even parts of his base that once buoyed his success are slipping away. New data shows Trump’s support among non-college educated voters — a core bloc in his 2024 victory — has flipped from positive to negative, a 23-point swing that leaves him underwater with the very demographic that helped put him in office.
That kind of shift isn’t a blip — it’s a breakdown.
Poll after poll shows disapproval outpacing approval not just overall, but on issues Trump has banked his brand on, like the economy and immigration. A fresh Reuters/Ipsos poll noted just 26% believe he’s handling the cost of living well, even as the White House rolls out tours and talking points to sell its economic performance.
And while Trump still commands loyalty from a large share of Republican voters — keeping his party’s internal numbers from outright disaster — his standing with voters who *actually decide competitive elections* has deteriorated sharply. Young voters, independents, and former swing groups now tilt away from him more than toward him in several major surveys.
Put it all together and the picture is grim: a sitting president whose approval is not just underwater, but submerged relative to historical norms, whose support is slipping in once-reliable corners, and whose own data analysts are calling the trend “second-term lows across the board.”
The White House hasn’t offered a meaningful rebuttal beyond dismissing these polls as “fake news.” But when even the people doing the polling are visibly shocked by the breadth of the decline, that defense sounds more like denial than strategy.
Trump’s approval isn’t just low. It’s historically brutal — and even the numbers nerds who crunch this stuff for a living are shaking their heads.
Watch the video below:
