Feb. 22, 2026, 10:33 a.m. ET
Ahead of President Donald Trump‘s first State of the Union address of his second term, a new poll shows a majority of Americans disapprove of his job performance, especially on inflation, tariffs and foreign policy.
In a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released on Sunday, Feb. 22 − just two days before Trump’s highly anticipated address to Congress − six in ten Americans, 60%, said they disapprove of the way he is handling his role. Of that number, 47% indicated a strong disapproval. Another 39% said they approve of the president’s performance.
The pollster said the last time Trump’s disapproval touched 60% was shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The five-day poll was conducted among 2,589 U.S. adults from Feb. 12-17 and has a margin of error of ±2 percentage points.
A New York Times average of other recent polls place the president’s disapproval rate at 56% and approval at 41%.
The latest survey also shows a fierce partisan divide. Among respondents, 85% of Republicans said they approve of Trump’s job performance. Conversely, both Democrats and independents significantly disapproved of the president − at a rate of 94% among Democrats and 69% among independents. Those numbers are almost identical to the partisan breakdown in the poll’s last survey in October 2025.
The polling doesn’t signal sweeping support ahead of Trump’s State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday, Feb. 24. It comes a little more than two weeks before 2026 primary voters head to the polls in three states on Mar. 3.
Still, the majority negative opinions about the president don’t appear to translate into an automatic boon for the Democrats.
The poll shows Americans don’t trust Democrats in Congress more than Trump to handle immigration issues and the cost of living. In all, 38% said they have more confidence in the president to tackle immigration, compared to 34% who opted for congressional Democrats. On the cost-of-living, 32% said they prefer Trump, and 32% said the Democrats.
Though 64% of Americans said in the poll that they see the Democratic Party as “out of touch,” they said the same of the president, also at a rate of 64%.
Broken down among six key issues, approval of Trump’s job performance was lowest when it came to inflation: 65% said they disapprove, and 32% said they approve. Tariffs also produced low marks, with a 34% approval and 64% disapproval, though opinions of the president’s handling of the economy overall was slightly higher, at a 41% approval and 57% disapproval.
On immigration, 40% said they approve of Trump’s policies and 58% said they disapprove, while his marks on the southern border garnered the most positive numbers, at a 47% approval and 50% disapproval.
Kathryn Palmer is a politics reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her atkapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @KathrynPlmr. Sign up for her daily politics newsletterhere.
