Trump approval rating rises as Republicans back cost-of-living efforts
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The six-day poll, which closed on Dec 8, showed approval of US President Donald Trump rising from 38 per cent in late November.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump’s approval rating edged up to 41 per cent in the past week as Republicans warmed to his handling of the cost of living, a sign the administration’s new focus on affordability might be supporting his popularity, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The six-day poll, which closed on Dec 8, showed approval of the president rising from 38 per cent in late November, which was the lowest since Mr Trump returned to the White House in January.
Mr Trump started his second term with a 47 per cent rating.
Republicans performed poorly in a handful of state elections
But in recent weeks, Mr Trump has engaged more forcefully on the topic, scaling back some of his tariff increases
Mr Trump has gone so far as to describe Democrats’ focus on the issue as “a hoax”.
He is scheduled to give a speech on affordability and other economic issues on Dec 9 in Pennsylvania, a battleground state in national elections.
Several congressional races in Pennsylvania will be competitive in 2026 when all 435 seats in the US House of Representatives are at stake.
Mr Trump’s performance on the cost of living, where he got a 31 per cent approval rating, is among his weakest popularity scores.
But that was up from 26 per cent in late November.
A 10-percentage-point gain among Republicans boosted his number, and 69 per cent of Republicans rated him favourably on the issue.
Some 85 per cent of Republicans approved of his overall performance as president, up from 82 per cent in November.
US inflation rates surged under Mr Trump’s predecessor in office, Democrat Joe Biden, and the economic pain helped Mr Trump defeat Ms Kamala Harris
Inflation has remained elevated under Mr Trump, with prices up 3 per cent in the 12 months through September, above the historical norm of around 2 per cent.
The uptick in Mr Trump’s popularity also owed to a modest increase in his approval among Hispanics, a group that swung in Mr Trump’s direction in 2024’s election.
Some 34 per cent of Hispanics in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll said they approved of Mr Trump’s performance in the White House, up from 32 per cent in late November.
The latest survey gathered responses from 4,434 US adults nationwide and was conducted online. It had a margin of error, a measure of precision, of 2 percentage points in either direction. REUTERS
