President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 33% – the lowest rating of his second term – according to University of Massachusetts Amherst Poll results released Monday.
That’s down five points since last July and 11 points since last April, said the university. This most recent poll included 1,000 respondents and it was conducted between March 20 and March 25.
“These latest poll numbers on public approval of President Trump are brutal,” said Jesse Rhodes, professor of political science at UMass Amherst and co-director of the poll. “Fully 62% of Americans somewhat or strongly disapprove of Trump’s job performance.”
Other experts from UMass cited the war in Iran as one of the major issues contributing to Trump’s falling approval rating. Trump announced that the U.S and Israel had joined together to strike Iran in late February and conflict has continued for more than a month.
“Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Americans say the president is handling Iran poorly, including 52% who say ‘not well at all,” said Raymond La Raja, professor of political science at UMass Amherst and co-director of the poll. “This appears to create a weak foundation for Trump to attempt to escalate the war.”
While the poll showed that 71% of Trump’s own party said the president is handling the situation in Iran well, Tatishe Nteta, provost professor of political science at UMass Amherst and director of the poll, noted that he campaigned on a vow to avoid new wars back in 2024. Nteta also noted that the attack on Iran has resulted in some criticism from prominent conservatives, including media personality Tucker Carlson.
Trump voters generally remain loyal to the president with 83% who said they still express confidence in their 2024 vote, the poll found. However, that is down from 93% last April and 88% last July.
With the conflict in Iran has come a blockage at the Strait of Hormuz along the Iranian coast, an important route for oil transportation. Fuel prices have been going up in the U.S. and average national prices exceeded $4 per gallon Tuesday. When gas prices go up, prices for goods can go up as well due to higher transportation costs, and Americans have already been dealing with years of post COVID-19 pandemic inflation.
Per the new poll, 71% of respondents said Trump is not handling inflation well and 61% said he is not handling jobs well. His tariff policy also didn’t score well with the respondents – 64% gave him a negative grade on it. Some research has shown that American consumers actually bore the brunt of the tariff costs rather than foreign trade partners.
“Americans grade Trump harshly on the most prominent issues facing the country, especially on bread-and-butter economic issues,” Nteta explained.
There are other issues as well. UMass experts mentioned lack of support for Trump’s handling of voting rights, how his administration has handled the Jeffrey Epstein files, government shutdowns and backlash against deadly Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crackdowns.
“Nteta also notes that immigration, once one of President Trump’s greatest strengths, has quickly become one of the president’s most pressing vulnerabilities,” said the university.
She also highlighted “dips in support from the very groups that helped Trump take back the presidency in 2024,” adding that “among men, working class Americans and African Americans, Trump’s approval ratings have dropped by close to 20 points since April 2025.”
Nteta also said the poll showed drops among moderates (down 18 points) and independents (down 13 points). Those are key groups that are poised to decide the outcome of races this November during the midterm elections.
Polling aggregates from the Silver Bulletin and the Economist also showed that Trump’s approval ratings have been falling in recent weeks. Silver said the president’s “declining popularity is almost certainly driven by gas prices,” and the Economist said “the Iran war is probably responsible.”
