Updated Aug. 24, 2026, 3:59 p.m. ET
Amid his continued struggles in national polling, President Donald Trump is now saying his record-low polls are part of “demoralization operations” that seek to make Republicans less likely to vote in November’s midterms.
“The Radical Left Democrats are going CRAZY with Fake Polls. They’re putting them out at levels never seen before,” Trump said in an Aug. 24 Truth Social post. “They’re called ‘Demoralization Operations,’ where they try to demoralize Republicans so that they don’t go out and vote — But the actual Polls are tremendous, and the Spirit in our Country has never been higher.”
Trump’s post comes days after a new YouGov/Economist projection showed his net job approval rating in the negatives in all but three states.
Additionally, in the Aug. 24 post, Trump struck an optimistic tone, saying that the United States was “winning against EVERYONE.”
“We’re winning against EVERYONE, including Iran, whose Country is in Economic and Military Death Spiral,” Trump continued.
Bad poll after bad poll for Trump
According to The Economist and YouGov poll released last week, more people disapprove than approve of Trump’s job performance in 47 out of 50 states and in the District of Columbia.
The three states where the majority of respondents still approve of the president’s performance are Wyoming (+14), Idaho (+9), and West Virginia (+6). All three went for Trump in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.
That projection came days after a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Aug. 17, which showed that only one in three Americans approved of Trump’s job performance.
His performance in that poll marked the lowest approval rating Trump had seen in Reuters/Ipsos tracking since his return to the White House in 2025. The 33% approval the president gathered also tied his worst approval rating during his first term in office.
What do polling averages show?
While individual polls vary, major polling averages continue to show Trump in negative territory overall:
Contributing: Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
