Gallup Discontinues Presidential Approval Rating Polls

Presidential polling from Gallup is coming to an end after nearly nine decades, in a major shift in how one of the country’s most well-known survey firms measures public opinion.

For years, Gallup has been considered the gold standard for tracking how Americans feel about the president. While the organization says it will pivot toward issue-based polling instead of presidential job approval, other firms are continuing to track the numbers — offering a detailed look at how President Donald Trump is performing across the country.

Current data from Civiqs reveals a stark geographic divide in President Trump’s approval ratings that largely mirrors the 2024 electoral map. States that voted for Vice President Kamala Harris generally show weaker approval numbers for Trump today, with Hawaii registering the lowest net approval rating at negative 58.

Meanwhile, deep-red states that backed Trump by wide margins in 2024 continue showing strong support. West Virginia currently posts the highest net approval rating in the country at plus 25, underscoring the persistent political polarization across America.

A closer examination reveals that several states Trump carried in the 2024 election now show him with negative net approval ratings. According to election data compiled by 270toWin, Alaska, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Georgia all currently show Trump underwater — meaning more voters disapprove than approve of his performance.

Many of these states, however, were tight races to begin with. Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin are considered true swing states – politically divided and often decided by razor-thin margins. In these battleground territories, mixed approval numbers align with their historically divided nature.

What remains unclear is how many voters who supported Trump in 2024 may now be disillusioned with his policies, or whether current approval shifts reflect broader national trends rather than changes among his core supporters.

Presidential approval ratings, now a staple of political coverage, are actually a relatively modern invention. In the 1930s, pollster George Gallup founded the American Institute of Public Opinion, which later became Gallup. By the late 1930s, Gallup began regularly asking Americans a question that has barely changed since: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the president is handling his job?

Franklin D. Roosevelt was among the earliest presidents measured this way. According to the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara, approximately 69% of Americans approved of Roosevelt in early measurements of his presidency. His approval remained comparatively strong throughout his time in office, attributed to factors such as the New Deal’s economic programs, his fireside chats, and his leadership during World War II.

Since Gallup began tracking presidential job approval, the highest ratings have typically coincided with moments of national crisis or unity. The highest approval rating ever recorded was 90% for George W. Bush in September 2001, shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Following Bush, Gallup data shows Harry S. Truman reaching 87% during the early post–World War II period, when the United States emerged with strong domestic confidence. The third-highest peak belongs to John F. Kennedy, who reached 83% approval in 1961, early in his presidency.

Interestingly, the same president who experienced one of the highest approval levels also holds the record for the lowest. Truman’s approval plummeted to 22% in 1952 during the Korean War and a period of domestic political strain. This remains the lowest presidential approval rating Gallup has ever recorded.

Richard Nixon’s approval dropped to approximately 24% in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal, just before his resignation. Another dramatic fall came decades later when George W. Bush reached about 25% approval in 2008 during the financial crisis and near the end of his presidency.

Gallup’s departure from presidential polling marks the end of an era for political metrics. What began as a statistical experiment in the late 1930s evolved into one of the most closely watched indicators in American politics. While early polling measured Roosevelt’s popularity during economic recovery and war, modern approval numbers often fluctuate with events, demonstrating how public opinion can shift dramatically within a single presidency.

As other polling organizations continue tracking presidential approval, the legacy of Gallup’s nearly nine-decade contribution to understanding the American political landscape remains significant in how we measure and interpret public opinion of our nation’s leaders.