President Donald Trump’s job approval stood at 31% in an Oct. 16-19 Reuters/Ipsos survey of U.S. adults, a measure of his standing before the Nov. 3 congressional elections.
The survey found 66% disapproved of Trump’s job performance. It included 1,679 adults and had a full-sample margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
A separate ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted Oct. 9-13 found 33% approval and 66% disapproval. The 33% was the lowest figure in the poll’s published historical trend, which lists a first-term low of 36%. Because the findings come from separate surveys, they do not establish a measured two-point decline.
The earlier poll also asked about the election for the U.S. House of Representatives. Among likely voters, 52% favored the Democratic candidate in their district, compared with 44% for the Republican. Among all adults, 59% preferred Democratic control of the next Congress as a check on Trump, while 35% preferred Republican control to support his agenda. Those preferences do not establish how many seats either party will win.
Living costs featured in both surveys. In the Reuters/Ipsos poll, 49% selected a candidate’s position on the cost of living as the single most important factor in their congressional vote. In the ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll, 77% disapproved of Trump’s handling of living costs, while 71% said gasoline was unaffordable, up from 28% in February.
Trump told supporters at an Oct. 16 rally in Georgia, “You have to pretend I’m on the ballot,” according to a White House pool report. Voters will choose all 435 House members and roughly one-third of the Senate on Nov. 3.
