Fox News Poll Puts Trump Approval at 39% as Cost Pressures Shape Midterm Mood

A new national survey finds President Donald Trump facing broad dissatisfaction over inflation and living costs, while Democrats hold a seven-point advantage on the generic House ballot among registered voters.

 

 

 

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A new Fox News poll released Wednesday puts President Donald Trump’s overall job approval at 39%, with 61% disapproving, as economic concerns dominate voter attitudes ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The survey was conducted September 11–14 among 1,211 registered voters selected from a national voter file, with interviews conducted by phone and online and a sampling margin of error of three points.

Trump’s 39% approval is not unique to one survey. Recent national polling collected by the American Presidency Project has also shown his approval generally below 40% during late summer.

Economic dissatisfaction forms the central backdrop to the Fox results, with roughly three-quarters of respondents describing current economic conditions negatively and substantially more saying they are financially falling behind than advancing.

When voters were asked without being given a list to identify America’s most important problem, 34% cited the cost of living and another 14% mentioned the economy or jobs.

Everyday expenses remain particularly visible. The survey found 62% calling grocery prices a major problem, 61% saying the same about gasoline, 54% about housing, and 52% about healthcare costs.

Official inflation figures help explain some of that concern. Consumer prices rose 3.4% during the year ending in August, while food-at-home prices were 2.2% higher than one year earlier.

Energy costs have risen much faster. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported energy prices up 16.3% year-over-year in August, while gasoline prices were 27.4% higher than twelve months earlier.

That pressure is increasingly visible in household budgets and transportation costs, even though individual grocery categories vary considerably and some products have become cheaper rather than more expensive.

Trade policy is another source of voter dissatisfaction in the Fox survey. Sixty-four percent said tariffs hurt the U.S. economy, while opinions among Republican respondents were considerably more divided.

The poll also found 63% saying the Trump administration has made the economy worse, including roughly one-quarter of Republican respondents, while 55% trusted Democrats more on handling inflation.

Broader pessimism extended beyond current finances: 68% said life would be worse for the next generation, while more than two-thirds described themselves as unhappy with how the government is working.

On the generic congressional ballot, 51% of registered voters said they would support the Democratic candidate in their House district, compared with 44% who said they would support the Republican.

Fox noted that the seven-point difference sits just outside the poll’s overall three-point sampling margin, and generic-ballot surveys measure national sentiment rather than determining results in individual congressional districts.

A separate Marquette Law School national survey conducted earlier in September also recorded a Democratic advantage, finding a 50%–42% split among registered voters and 54%–41% among likely voters.

Other recent polling likewise portrays an electorate focused heavily on Trump and economic conditions, although surveys use different samples, question wording and models and therefore should not be treated as interchangeable.

Within the Fox survey, Democrats were trusted more on inflation, foreign policy, corruption and large AI data centers, while Republicans held a narrow one-point advantage when respondents were asked about immigration.

The inflation advantage does not necessarily reflect strong confidence in Democratic proposals: among respondents trusting Democrats on prices, more attributed their choice to Republican failures than confidence Democratic policies would reduce inflation.

Trump’s issue ratings also varied significantly. Fox measured 43% approval for his handling of immigration, 37% on foreign policy and just 24% on inflation, his lowest-rated issue in the survey.

Both major parties nevertheless remain viewed negatively overall, underscoring that dissatisfaction is not confined to one side and that the September polling represents a snapshot of voter attitudes, not an election outcome.