WASHINGTON (TNND) — Presidential polling from Gallup is coming to an end after nearly nine decades, in a major shift in how one of the country’s most well-known survey firms measures public opinion.
For years, Gallup has been considered the gold standard for tracking how Americans feel about the president. While the organization says it will pivot toward issue-based polling instead of presidential job approval, other firms are continuing to track the numbers — offering a detailed look at how President Donald Trump is performing across the country.
The latest data shows a stark geographic divide.
According to data from Civiqs, President Trump’s approval rating varies significantly depending on where you live.
States that voted for Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 generally show weaker approval numbers for Trump today.
Hawaii currently shows the lowest net approval rating for the president, at negative 58 – there, far more voters disapprove than approve of his performance.
Meanwhile, deep-red states that backed Trump by wide margins in 2024 are still showing strong support. West Virginia posts the highest net approval rating in the country, at plus 25.
The data underscores how polarized the electorate remains, with political alignment in 2024 closely mirroring current approval trends.
A closer look shows that several states Trump carried in 2024 now show him with negative net approval ratings.
Using 2024 election data compiled by 270toWin, states including Alaska, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia all currently show Trump underwater — meaning more voters disapprove than approve.
However, many of these states were tight races to begin with.
Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin are considered true swing states – politically divided and often decided by razor-thin margins. In those states, mixed approval numbers are not necessarily surprising.
What remains unclear is how many voters who supported Trump in 2024 may now be disillusioned with his policies, or whether current approval shifts reflect broader national trends rather than changes among his core supporters.
Presidential approval ratings, now a staple of political coverage, are actually a relatively modern invention
In the 1930s, pollster George Gallup founded the American Institute of Public Opinion, which later became Gallup. By the late 1930s, Gallup began regularly asking Americans a question that has barely changed since: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the president is handling his job?
One of the earliest presidents measured this way was Franklin D. Roosevelt. According to the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara, roughly 69% of Americans approved of Roosevelt in early measurements of his presidency, and his approval remained comparatively strong across his time in office. Historians and polling archives attribute that sustained support to factors such as the New Deal’s economic programs, Roosevelt’s fireside chats, and his leadership during World War II.
Highest presidential approval ratings on record
Since Gallup began tracking presidential job approval, the highest ratings have typically come during moments of national crisis or unity. Gallup’s historical dataset shows the highest approval rating ever recorded for a U.S. president was 90% for George W. Bush in September 2001, shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11.
Behind him, Gallup data show Harry S. Truman reaching 87% during the early post–World War II period, when the United States emerged from the war with strong domestic confidence.
The third-highest peak belongs to John F. Kennedy, who reached 83% approval in 1961, early in his presidency.
Lowest presidential approval ratings on record
Interestingly, the same president who saw one of the highest approval levels also holds the record for the lowest. Gallup data show Harry Truman’s approval falling to 22% in 1952, during the Korean War and a period of domestic political strain. That remains the lowest approval rating Gallup has ever recorded for a sitting president.
Next lowest was Richard Nixon, whose approval dropped to about 24% in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal, just before his resignation. Another dramatic fall came decades later: Gallup recorded George W. Bush at about 25% approval in 2008, during the financial crisis and near the end of his presidency.
The big picture
Presidential approval ratings have evolved from a new statistical experiment in the late 1930s into one of the most closely watched indicators in American politics. While early polling measured Roosevelt’s popularity during economic recovery and war, modern approval numbers often swing with events, showing how public opinion can shift dramatically even within a single presidency.
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