Trump Approval Rating Falls to New Second-Term Low

The latest Donald Trump Marquette poll approval numbers show that President Donald Trump’s overall approval rating has declined during his second term. According to the newest Marquette Law School Poll, conducted from September 2 through September 9, 2026, 37% of U.S. adults approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, while 63% disapprove.

The September results represent another step down from earlier Marquette surveys. Trump’s approval stood at 40% in July 2026 and 38% in both May and June. At the beginning of his second term, the February 2025 Marquette survey recorded 48% approval and 52% disapproval.

The Donald Trump Marquette poll approval figures are useful because the Marquette Law School Poll has repeatedly measured presidential approval using the same general question over time. This makes it possible to examine the direction of public opinion rather than looking at only one poll.

What Is the Latest Donald Trump Marquette Poll Approval Rating?

The latest Marquette Law School national survey puts Trump’s overall approval at 37%.

In the September 2-9, 2026 survey:

• 37% approve of Trump’s job performance.
• 63% disapprove.
• The net approval figure is -26 percentage points.
• Approval was 40% in July.
• Approval was 38% in May and June.
• Approval was 48% at the beginning of his second term in February 2025.

This means the latest Donald Trump Marquette poll approval rating is 11 percentage points below the initial second-term approval rating recorded by Marquette.

The change has not happened through one dramatic movement in public opinion. Instead, Marquette’s surveys show a gradual pattern of decline. Approval moved from 48% early in Trump’s second term to 45%, then 43%, 42%, 39%, 38%, 40%, and finally 37% in the September survey.

The July increase from 38% to 40% was temporary. The September survey showed approval falling again to 37%.

How Has Trump’s Approval Changed Over Time?

Looking at the Marquette polling trend provides more context than focusing only on the newest number.

In February 2025, shortly after Trump began his second term, Marquette found that 48% of adults approved of his job performance and 52% disapproved. By May 2025, approval had dropped to 46%. It fell to 45% in July, then 43% in September and November.

The January 2026 survey recorded 42% approval. That number declined to 39% in April and 38% in May and June. The July survey showed a small increase to 40%, before the September poll recorded 37%.

The broader Donald Trump Marquette poll approval trend therefore shows a gradual decline rather than a single sudden shift.

Marquette describes the movement as a steady downward trajectory during Trump’s second term. The September result is the lowest approval percentage in the series shown by the poll since the beginning of his second term.

Why Is the Marquette Poll Important?

The Marquette Law School Poll is a national survey that asks Americans about a range of political and public-policy issues. Presidential approval is one of the recurring questions.

For the September 2026 survey, Marquette interviewed adults nationally between September 2 and September 9. The poll also measured views on the economy, inflation, immigration, border security, tariffs, foreign policy, gas prices and the war with Iran.

That broader context matters when examining Donald Trump Marquette poll approval because presidential approval is often connected with people’s views about specific issues.

For example, the September survey found that Trump’s approval was considerably higher on border security and immigration than on several economic issues. That indicates that respondents do not evaluate every part of his administration in exactly the same way.

Trump’s Approval on Different Issues

The latest Marquette poll shows substantial differences between Trump’s overall approval and his ratings on individual issues.

Trump received 49% approval for his handling of border security. Immigration received 43% approval. These were the two issues in the survey with approval above 40%.

His approval on foreign policy was 34%, while tariffs received 30% approval.

The economy received 28% approval. His handling of the war with Iran received 26% approval.

Approval was lower on gas prices and inflation and the cost of living. Only 20% approved of his handling of gas prices, while 19% approved of his handling of inflation and the cost of living.

These numbers help explain why the Donald Trump Marquette poll approval result is not simply a measurement of one political issue. Public opinion differs significantly depending on the subject being evaluated.

The economy and cost of living are especially important because the latest Marquette survey found inflation and the cost of living remained the most important issue for many Americans. A separate Marquette release in August reported that 35% of respondents identified inflation and the cost of living as the most important issue.

Trump’s Approval Among Republicans

Party identification continues to make a major difference in the Donald Trump Marquette poll approval results.

The June Marquette survey found that 77% of Republicans approved of Trump’s job performance, compared with 20% of independents and 6% of Democrats.

The latest September release focuses heavily on overall approval and issue-specific ratings, but the earlier results provide important context for understanding the partisan differences in Trump’s support.

Republican approval has also declined compared with the beginning of Trump’s second term. Marquette reported that Republican approval fell from 89% in February 2025 to 77% in June 2026.

This does not mean that Republican voters and independent voters have moved in exactly the same way. The size and timing of changes differ among political groups.

The Marquette data therefore shows that the overall national approval number combines very different opinions across party groups.

Trump’s Approval Among Independent Voters

Independent voters have shown more movement in the Marquette data than Republicans or Democrats.

In February 2025, 37% of independents approved of Trump’s performance. By June 2026, that figure had fallen to 20%.

That change is relevant when examining the Donald Trump Marquette poll approval trend because independents make up a substantial portion of the electorate and do not necessarily approach every election or policy question with the same partisan preferences as voters who identify strongly with a party.

The Marquette data shows that approval among independents has generally been below approval among Republicans throughout Trump’s second term.

Trump’s Approval Among Democrats

Democratic approval of Trump’s job performance has remained low throughout the second-term Marquette surveys.

In June 2026, only 6% of Democrats approved of Trump’s job performance. The percentage had remained in the single digits across the surveys shown in Marquette’s trend data.

This means that the changes in Trump’s national approval rating have been driven more by shifts among Republicans and independents than by a large change among Democratic respondents.

When analyzing Donald Trump Marquette poll approval, it is therefore important to look beyond the overall 37% figure and consider the underlying partisan distribution.

Economic Issues and Trump’s Approval

Economic concerns are an important part of the latest Marquette findings.

Trump’s approval for handling the economy was 28% in the September survey. His approval for handling inflation and the cost of living was even lower at 19%. Gas prices received 20% approval.

These results contrast with Trump’s approval on border security, which reached 49%.

The difference shows that respondents can have different opinions about separate parts of a president’s record. Someone could approve of a president’s approach to immigration while disapproving of his handling of economic conditions.

This distinction is particularly important when interpreting Donald Trump Marquette poll approval because an overall approval number does not explain why individual respondents approve or disapprove.

Border Security and Immigration

Border security and immigration remain areas where Trump’s approval is higher than his overall rating.

The September Marquette poll found 49% approval for Trump’s handling of border security and 43% approval for immigration.

The figures also show that these issues have remained relatively stronger areas for Trump compared with the economy, gas prices and inflation.

In the May 2026 Marquette survey, border security received 48% approval and immigration received 44%. The September figures were similar, suggesting relatively limited movement on these two issues compared with some other areas.

This provides another reason why looking only at the headline Donald Trump Marquette poll approval figure can leave out important information.

What Does the Poll Say About Trump’s Overall Standing?

The latest poll documents a lower level of overall approval than Marquette recorded at the start of Trump’s second term.

In February 2025, approval was 48%. By September 2026, it was 37%. Over the same period, disapproval increased from 52% to 63%.

The change is significant in numerical terms, but the polling series shows that it occurred gradually.

Approval did not fall from 48% to 37% in one month. Instead, the Marquette surveys recorded relatively small movements between polling periods.

This is an important characteristic of the Donald Trump Marquette poll approval trend. The overall direction has been downward, but the individual survey-to-survey changes have generally been modest.

How Should Readers Interpret Poll Numbers?

Poll results are measurements of public opinion at a particular point in time. They are not the same thing as an election result.

The Marquette survey reports how respondents answered questions during the September 2-9, 2026 field period. Public opinion can change after a poll is completed because of economic conditions, political developments, international events, campaign activity and other factors.

The margin of sampling error should also be considered when comparing relatively small changes between polls.

For that reason, a movement of one or two percentage points should not automatically be interpreted as a major change in public opinion.

The broader Donald Trump Marquette poll approval trend is more useful when several surveys are considered together.

Donald Trump Marquette Poll Approval and the 2026 Political Environment

The September poll was conducted during an important period in the 2026 political calendar. Marquette also measured the generic congressional ballot in the same survey.

Among likely voters, 54% said they would vote for a Democratic congressional candidate, while 41% said they would vote for a Republican candidate. Among registered voters, the figures were 50% for Democrats and 42% for Republicans.

Those numbers are separate from presidential approval and should not be treated as the same measurement.

The Donald Trump Marquette poll approval question asks respondents to evaluate Trump’s performance as president. The generic congressional ballot asks which party’s candidate they would support for Congress.

These questions measure different things, even though they are included in the same national survey.

Why Tracking the Trend Matters

A single approval rating can provide a snapshot, but a series of polls provides a better understanding of how public opinion has changed.

Marquette’s data shows Trump starting his second term with 48% approval in February 2025. Approval then gradually declined, reaching 37% in September 2026.

The July 2026 increase to 40% demonstrates why individual polls should be viewed within a larger trend. A temporary increase does not necessarily change the overall direction of a longer polling series.

At the same time, the latest figure should not be interpreted as a prediction of future approval. Polling measures current opinion; it does not establish what future respondents will think.

Final Thoughts on Donald Trump Marquette Poll Approval

The latest Donald Trump Marquette poll approval figure is 37%, according to the Marquette Law School Poll conducted September 2-9, 2026. A total of 63% of respondents said they disapproved of Trump’s handling of his job as president.

The September result is lower than the 40% recorded in July and the 38% recorded in May and June. It is also substantially below the 48% approval recorded at the beginning of Trump’s second term in February 2025.

The poll also shows that Trump’s ratings vary considerably by issue. Border security and immigration receive higher approval than economic issues, while inflation, cost of living and gas prices receive some of the lowest approval ratings in the survey.

The Donald Trump Marquette poll approval numbers therefore provide more than one headline figure. They show an overall approval rating, a long-term trend and significant differences in how Americans evaluate Trump’s handling of individual issues.

As with any poll, the results represent public opinion during the period when the survey was conducted. Future surveys may produce different results as circumstances and opinions change.

FAQs About Donald Trump Marquette Poll Approval

1. What is Donald Trump’s latest Marquette approval rating?

The latest Marquette Law School Poll, conducted September 2-9, 2026, found that 37% of U.S. adults approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president, while 63% disapprove.

2. What was Trump’s approval rating in the previous Marquette poll?

Trump’s approval rating was 40% in the July 2026 Marquette survey. Before that, approval was 38% in both May and June.

3. What was Trump’s approval rating when his second term began?

Marquette recorded 48% approval and 52% disapproval in its February 2025 survey at the beginning of Trump’s second term.

4. Which issue has Trump’s highest approval in the latest Marquette poll?

Border security had the highest approval among the issues measured in the September 2026 survey, with 49% approving of Trump’s handling of the issue. Immigration followed at 43%.

5. What issue has Trump’s lowest approval in the latest Marquette poll?

Inflation and the cost of living received the lowest approval rating among the measured issues, with 19% approving. Gas prices received 20% approval.