One hundred days into his second term, Donald Trump is facing a brutal reality: the honeymoon is over.
In January, Trump appeared to be riding high—polls showed him more popular than ever, with his approval ratings in positive territory for the first time in his political career.
But that momentum has vanished. In a stunning reversal, recent surveys now show Trump as the least popular president at the 100-day mark of a second term, eclipsing even the historically low ratings he set during his first time in office.
Polls Show Historic Decline
Such was the case in the latest CNN/SSRS poll, conducted between April 17-24 among 1,678 adults, which found that 41 percent currently approve of the president’s job performance, while 59 percent disapprove. That is down 4 points since March, and is 7 points lower than it was in late February.
It is also the lowest approval rating for any president after 100 days since Dwight D. Eisenhower and makes Trump less popular now than he was at the same point during his first term.
And in the latest Fox News poll, conducted between April 18-21 among 1,104 registered voters, Trump’s net approval sank to -10 points, with 44 percent approving and 55 percent disapproving, down from -2 points in March.
That makes Trump’s approval lower than that of Joe Biden (54 percent), Barack Obama (62 percent), and George W. Bush (63 percent) at the 100-day mark in their presidencies, and is down 5 points from Trump’s 49 percent approval in March.
An ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted between April 18-22 among 2,464 adults showed that Trump has the lowest 100-day job approval rating of any president in the past 80 years, with 39 percent of respondents saying they approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, down 6 percentage points from February, while 55 percent said they disapprove.
And in a survey conducted by NPR/PBS/Marist Poll between April 21 and 23, 46 percent of registered voter respondents chose “F” when asked to grade Trump’s performance so far—the worst marks for any president in modern history.
Earlier this week, Trump sought to discredit recent polls, branding them as “fake news.”
“The Polls from the Fake News are, like the News itself, FAKE! We are doing GREAT, better than ever before,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
But with approval ratings sliding, the White House faces a pivotal question: is this just a temporary slump, or the early unraveling of a presidency already on shaky ground?
For G Elliott Morris, the former director of FiveThirtyEight, a rebound for Trump in the polls is “unlikely.”
“I personally think it’s unlikely that he will meaningfully pivot, just given everything we know about Trump,” he told Newsweek. “But 4 years is a long time!” he noted.
Morris’ statistical model, which currently has Trump’s net approval rating at -10 points, forecasts that by November 2026, it could slip to -30 points.
Democratic pollster Matt McDermott paints an even grimmer picture. He says there’s “no historical precedent” for a president to recover from such a sharp early-term collapse in approval. “Once trust is broken, it is hard to rebuild—and right now Trump is burning through whatever goodwill he had left with critical swing voters.”
Allan Lichtman, a presidential historian known for forecasting elections, says Trump’s historically low 100-day approval ratings are “a major red flag”—not just for his presidency, but for his broader political influence. “There is no precedent for any president recovering from such low approval ratings at the hundred-day mark,” he notes, adding that Trump’s only rival for this kind of early-term unpopularity is himself, from his first term—when he never fully rebounded. While Lichtman acknowledges that approval ratings can shift, he argues that the chances of this are “dim.”
“A lot can still happen, although the chances of a significant increase in approval ratings for Trump are dim,” he said.
Jack Dozier, the deputy director at Yale Youth Poll, takes a longer view, suggesting that it’s simply too early to gauge the full impact of Trump’s second term. He emphasizes that presidential popularity can fluctuate and that “only time will tell” whether Trump’s current numbers mark a temporary dip or the start of lasting political damage.
Still, he agrees that early-term polls—especially when they’re this dire—are critical warning signs, noting that public opinion at this stage can help define a president’s ability to govern and set the national agenda.
“Polls now are gauging only the first 100 days of Trump’s nonconsecutive administrations, so any potential lasting damage has yet to be revealed. This is something we’ll better have a grasp of as a polling community about a year into the presidency. At this point of the Biden-Harris administration, approval ratings were through the roof! So, only time can tell,” he said.
But for the most part, experts say that a rebound for Trump will require a shift in his game plan—particularly on the issue of tariffs.
“A rebound is possible, but it will require changing the game plan and not doubling down on policy failures,” Thomas Gift, an associate professor of political science and director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, told Newsweek.
He added: “There are some voters for whom Trump’s dalliances with tariffs are unforgivable, especially those who are looking at their 401ks, seeing their retirement savings being frittered away, and are having buyer’s remorse with Trump. Other voters may be willing give Trump the benefit of the doubt to see if his “short-term pain, long-term gain” promises pan out. However, even their patience might expire if Trump’s self-inflicted economic wounds drive America into recession.”
Economic Turbulence Drives Discontent
Trump’s approval ratings have been in decline ever since the announcement of his “Liberation Day” tariffs. The sweeping move roiled the markets, triggering an immediate sell-off that was followed by a rebound days later.
But the president’s management of the situation appears to have left voters feeling uneasy, with polls reflecting a dramatic erosion of public confidence in the president’s handling of the economy, an issue long seen as one of his key strengths.
A Navigator Research poll conducted April 24–28 found that Trump’s net approval on the economy has dropped to -16, with just 40 percent approving and 56 percent disapproving—his worst rating on the economy in the group’s tracking history. His numbers on inflation and tariffs were even more dismal, with net approval ratings of -29 and -26, respectively. The growing concern is reflected in other surveys as well. A Decision Desk HQ/NewsNation poll showed that 82 percent of voters are worried about a potential recession, and 59 percent say inflation is the biggest problem facing the country.
Additional polling reinforces this trend: in the latest New York Times/Siena poll, 50 percent of voters said Trump has made the economy worse since taking office for his second term. Only 21 percent said he had improved it. Trump’s approval on the economy stood at 42 percent in the same survey, with 55 percent disapproving. Other national polls—by AP-NORC and Fox News—put his economic approval even lower, at 37 percent and 38 percent, respectively.
Trump’s immigration policy has also taken a hit. Once a strong point for the president, recent numbers from Emerson College show a decline in approval from 48 percent to 45 percent, while disapproval rose to 44 percent. His deportation policy fares slightly worse, with a net negative rating as well.
Midterm Risks Mount
And Lichtman thinks that if Trump continues in this direction, the Republicans could be in trouble, come the midterms.
“Low early approval ratings are indicative of midterm losses for the president’s party,” he said.
Gift agreed. “The key advantage of being a second-term president is that polling matters far less when you’re already term-limited. But Trump’s allies in Congress, who will face voters in the 2026 midterms, have much more reason for concern. With Trump’s approval ratings deeply underwater, Republican incumbents risk being dragged down with him. If Trump hopes to avoid an opposition House or Senate, and the gridlock and investigations that would come with it, he can’t afford to ignore polling that shows him as the least popular president at this stage in his presidency in over 80 years,” he said.
McDermott added: “The warning signs are flashing red. Voters who gave Trump a second chance are already feeling a deep sense of disappointment and betrayal. He promised to fix the economy and lower prices, but instead they’re watching chaos, infighting, and policies that seem designed to hurt everyday working families.
“We’ve never seen a president inflict this much damage on himself so quickly.”
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