President Donald Trump’s approval rating sits near record lows at 36 percent in a new Economist/YouGov poll released July 21, as separate Washington Post reporting highlights administration tariff plans and ongoing legislative battles over foreign policy.
Polling Woes and Voter Concerns Over Age and Economy
President Donald Trump enters the late summer facing mounting political headwinds. According to usatoday.com, the latest Economist/YouGov survey puts the president’s net approval at -24 percent, trailing only two percentage points above his worst net approval in either of his terms in the White House. That figure places him below the lowest net approval recorded by former President Joe Biden, which stood at -23 percent.
Beyond job performance, voter scrutiny over the president’s age has intensified. The poll, which surveyed 1,602 respondents between July 17 and July 20 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points, found that 52 percent of respondents said Trump is too old to be president. That marks a 12 percentage point increase from January.
Economic and immigration anxieties compound those numbers. Forty-seven percent of respondents described the U.S. economy as being in a poor state, representing the highest level seen in any of their polls since 2023. Meanwhile, 54 percent disapproved of Trump’s handling of immigration, a domain that traditionally ranked among his strongest policy areas with voters.
Congressional Midterm Outlook and Generic Ballot Trends
The incumbent administration’s national polling struggles are reverberating through legislative battlegrounds. usatoday.com notes that Monday’s poll showed Democrats leading the GOP by five percentage points on a generic congressional ballot, pointing toward potential Democratic gains in the November midterms.
That five-point margin aligns with broader polling trends from the same week. An Ipsos/Washington Post survey published July 16 gave Democrats a three-point lead, while a CNBC poll released a day later on July 17 found a four-point advantage for Democrats.
Tariffs, Energy Markets, and Legislative Friction in Washington
While poll numbers draw voter attention, the White House continues to advance major trade and foreign policy measures. According to washingtonpost.com, the administration announced permanent tariffs designed to punish the use of forced labor, replacing temporary import levies set to expire at midnight. The administration is also poised to launch a separate initial batch of new tariffs aimed at sidestepping a Supreme Court ruling that upended trade strategy earlier this year.
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Energy markets reacted sharply to geopolitical developments as washingtonpost.com reported that Brent crude prices leaped to $100 a barrel following attacks in the Red Sea. The surge—bringing monthly gains to about 40 percent—followed claims by Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen that they struck Saudi tankers.
On Capitol Hill, congressional friction over executive military authority remains acute. The House passed a $1.15 trillion defense bill that tees up funding for Iran war, even as bipartisan consensus fractured over the administration’s renewed military strikes against Tehran. A separate House vote sought to limit presidential authority on Iran, though a similar measure failed to advance in the Senate.
Nonproliferation Concerns and Middle East Diplomacy
Foreign policy maneuvers extended to nuclear agreements in the Middle East. The United States signed a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia establishing a path toward fuel enrichment, drawing immediate alarm from nonproliferation experts given the kingdom’s signals that it wants a nuclear weapon. Congress faces a 90-day window to act on the agreement.
Complicating the diplomatic landscape further, washingtonpost.com reported that President Trump added a new condition just a day after the agreement was signed: a requirement that the Saudis normalize relations with Israel.
