Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Falls to Lowest Ever Point With Women

Donald Trump’s approval rating among women has reached an all-time low.

The latest YouGov/Economist poll, conducted between September 12 and 15, showed that Trump’s approval rating among women stood at -27, with 34% support and 61% disapproval.

This figure is slightly higher than the previous low of -26, recorded between August 22 and 25.

Gender Gap Persists

The results indicate a persistent gender gap in American politics: Trump’s approval rating among men stands at -9 points, -18 points higher than his approval rating among women.

Trump has widened the gender gap in the 2024 presidential election, with support ratings between men and women diverging sharply along party lines, according to opinion polls and post-election surveys.

In 2024, Kamala Harris beat Trump among women (53% to 46%), while Trump won among men (54% to 45%). In 2020, Joe Biden scored slightly higher among women, with a score of 55% to 43%. This trend suggests that Trump managed to narrow the Democrats’ lead with women while maintaining that of men, thus widening the gap.

In 2024, the gap was particularly pronounced among key demographic groups. Among Latino voters, Trump won 55% of the vote from Latino men, compared to just 38% from Latino women—a 17-point gap, significantly wider than in 2020. This difference was also reflected among younger voters: men under 30 leaned more Republican, while women in the same age group remained firmly Democratic, creating a 12-point gap. Trump also made modest gains among white women, though white men continued to support him more strongly, preserving a persistent gender imbalance.

“Very Bad News for Republicans”

While Trump has strengthened his popularity with men, his continued weakness with women, who were crucial in recent national and congressional elections, could be “very bad news for Republicans” heading into the 2026 midterm elections, according to Peter Logue, a professor of political communication at George Washington University.

“This is very bad news for Republicans. They have a very slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and a slim majority in the Senate. A few thousand votes in a few states and districts could give the Democrats control of Congress,” Logue told Newsweek.

Logue added that Trump’s approval rating has rarely exceeded 50% during his political career and that most of his policies remain unpopular.

Republicans who continue to support an unpopular president and policies risk losing their next elections. But opposing the president carries risks. The question for Republicans is: is supporting or opposing the president more politically risky? These polling results could lead some Republicans to conclude that supporting the president is politically riskier than opposing him, which would be very bad news for the White House.

Thomas Gift, founding director of the Center for American Politics at the London School of Economics, told Newsweek: “If the Republican Party fails to close this gender gap, it risks being marginalized in constituencies where suburban women have a significant impact on the outcome.”

Suburban women are a key group of undecided voters. A 2024 KFF report found that about 47% of suburban women identify as Democrats or Democratic-leaning, while more than a third identify as Republicans or Republican-leaning, and about 20% identify as independents.

Broader Approval Decline

This record drop in Trump’s popularity among women comes as his own popularity is in sharp decline. The latest YouGov/Economist poll showed his overall approval rating fell to -18, with 39% of voters approving of his performance and 57% disapproving. This is the first time his approval rating has fallen below 40%.

The previous low was recorded between August 15 and 18, when his approval rating was 40% and his disapproval rating was 56%, a net -16 points. In this poll, Trump’s approval rating among women was -21 points, with 37% support and 58% disapproval.

Trump’s approval rating among women also declined on key issues, notably the economy. On jobs and the economy, his approval rating fell from 34% in mid-August to 29% in September, while his disapproval rating rose from 56% to 60%. On inflation, his approval rating fell from 27% to 25%, and his disapproval rating from 64% to 67%.

Perceptions of the direction of the economy also improved. In August, 19% of women said the economy was improving, 17% said it was remaining stable, and 58% said it was getting worse. In September, only 14% of respondents felt the situation had improved, 20% said it was unchanged, and 60% said it had worsened.

These figures come amid growing pressures on the cost of living under President Donald Trump, with new data showing that inflation, the housing market, and employment are all moving in worrying directions.

The latest update of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed prices rose 2.9% in August compared to last year, the largest increase since January. Import tariffs are a major factor, increasing consumer prices by around 2.3% in the short term. Housing costs have also risen sharply, with the annual income needed to buy a median-priced home now standing at $114,000, a 70% increase since 2019.

The labor market is also under pressure. Employers added only 22,000 jobs in August, after losing 13,000 in June, the first monthly decline since late 2020. The unemployment rate reached 4.3%, its highest level since 2021, as businesses adjusted to tariff-related disruptions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecast job growth to be 911,000 between April 2024 and March 2025, the largest decline on record.

Trump has sought to blame his predecessor for the economic woes, claiming the United States was “in hell” under Joe Biden and that his administration had inherited an “inflationary nightmare.” But polls suggest this message is losing traction. A new Signal poll shows that more Americans now blame Republicans for rising inflation than Democrats, coinciding with a sharp drop in Trump’s approval ratings.

A YouGov/Economist poll indicates that Trump’s economic record is behind the overall decline, with 35% of voters choosing either the economy or inflation as their top priority.

This also applies to women, 34% of whom choose either the economy or inflation as their most important issue.