Trump economic approval rating falls to -31 in CNBC survey

President Donald Trump’s economic approval rating fell to a net -31 percentage points in CNBC’s October survey, with 34% of registered voters approving of his handling of the economy and 65% disapproving. The CNBC All-America Economic Survey also found voters preferring Democratic control of Congress by 52% to 45% ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm election.

CNBC said the economic result was Trump’s lowest net rating on the issue across his two terms. It also said the 65% disapproval figure was the highest recorded for any president in its polling series since it began during Barack Obama’s presidency. Those measures describe views in this survey, rather than a direct measure of economic performance.

The national poll was conducted from Oct. 14 to Oct. 18 among 1,000 registered voters. Its margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, according to CNBC.

How did Trump’s economic approval rating change from July?

Trump’s economic approval slipped four percentage points from CNBC’s July survey, when 38% approved. Disapproval rose five points from 60%, taking the net measure, approval minus disapproval, from -22 to -31.

The change in views of the economy was more marked than the change in Trump’s overall job rating. Forty per cent of respondents approved of his performance as president and 59% disapproved, a net -19 rating that was unchanged from July, CNBC reported.

Broader economic sentiment was also weak in the poll. Eighty per cent of respondents described the economy as fair or poor, the highest reading in the survey since December 2023. Sixty-three per cent said they were pessimistic about current conditions and the outlook, one point higher than in July.

CNBC reported that pessimism rose among Republicans as well as among other groups. Thirty-five per cent of Republican respondents were pessimistic, up six points since July and the highest level in either Trump term, according to the network’s account of its survey.

What did the survey find on congressional control?

The 52% to 45% preference for Democratic control of Congress represented a seven-point Democratic lead, compared with a 49% to 45% result in July. The survey is a snapshot of voter preference and does not determine election results.

Interest in the election differed by party identification: 72% of Democrats said they were highly interested, compared with 62% of Republicans, CNBC reported. Independents preferred Democratic congressional control by 49% to 33%.

Government corruption was the leading concern named by 36% of respondents, while food and grocery costs ranked second. CNBC reported that Democrats held a four-point advantage over Republicans on handling corruption and a 16-point advantage on food and grocery costs. The survey’s Democratic and Republican pollsters, Jay Campbell of Hart Research Associates and Micah Roberts of Public Opinion Strategies, offered differing partisan readings of the results.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.