President Trump has suffered a devastating plunge in his approval scores, in response to NCS information guru Harry Enten.
Enten, talking on Inside Politics Sunday, mentioned that Trump’s approval ranking has swung from +6 in January to -12 in December.
“Look, 2025 was not exactly the best year for the president of the United States. He started off in pretty gosh darn good territory, right? Trump’s net approval rating in January, he was 6 points above water, pretty much above where he was during his entire first term in office. But look what happens come December—12 points underwater. Way, way down there. That is an 18-point decline during the course of the year,” Enten mentioned.
NCS’s chief information analyst revealed that Trump’s rating of unbiased voters has induced the large drop. “Now, what has driven Donald Trump’s decline in his net approval rating? Well, it’s independents. That is the name of the game, baby,” he mentioned, earlier than crunching the numbers.
The information made for grim studying for Trump’s supporters. In January, when Trump entered workplace, his web approval ranking was -1. It’s now a staggering -43, in response to Enten.
“Look, in January, Donald Trump’s approval rating among independents was about even, minus one point. Not too hot to trot, but not too bad either. Now, we’re talking about 43 points underwater come December. That is a decline of 42 points on his net approval rating,” he defined.
Describing Trump’s predicament with a gag, Enten quipped: “Donald Trump is hanging out with Jacques Cousteau. That is how far underwater Donald Trump is with independents at this point.”
Jacques Cousteau was a French oceanographer and filmmaker who plumbed the depths of the world’s waters and was later depicted by Bob Murray in the 2004 Wes Anderson movie, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
Two points fueled the slide in Trump’s approval: the economic system and immigration. On the economic system, he started his time period with a web approval of +9 in January, however that ranking dropped 25 factors to -16 by December. His standing on immigration adopted an identical trajectory, falling 15 factors over the identical interval, from +9 in January to -6 by December.
More than 61 p.c of individuals say the president is making costs and inflation sound way more rosy than they really are, in response to the results of a new YouGov/CBS poll, with an extra 45 p.c saying they anticipate his insurance policies to depart them financially worse off in 2026. Just 31 p.c of respondents have a optimistic view of Trump’s financial stewardship, in response to an AP-NORC poll launched earlier this month.
Enten mentioned the development advised Trump’s get together was headed for vital losses in the midterm elections. “Based upon history, it doesn’t look too good for the man in charge of the White House right now,” he mentioned.
The White House has been contacted for remark.