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By Sam Stevenson
Associate News Editor
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President Donald Trump’s approval rating among independent voters has ticked upward for the first time in months, following a sharp decline earlier this year when his second term entered its second year.
A new Quinnipiac poll released in April shows Trump’s job approval among independent voters rising slightly after falling steeply from January through March.
Independent voters make up a large share of the electorate and often signal broader political momentum shifts early in a presidency.
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While overall approval remains unchanged, small gains among independents suggest potential resistance to further erosion rather than a full rebound.
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White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Newsweek in an emailed statement: "The ultimate poll was November 5, 2024, when nearly 80 million Americans overwhelmingly elected President Trump to deliver on his popular and commonsense agenda.
"No other president in history has accomplished more for the American people than President Trump, who is working tirelessly to create jobs, cool inflation, increase housing affordability, and more. The president has already made historic progress not only in America but around the world, and this is just the beginning as his agenda continues taking effect."
Why It Matters
Trump entered 2026 facing steadily worsening reviews from independents, a voting bloc that has grown increasingly skeptical during his second term.
April’s data breaks that downward trend, even as overall disapproval remains firmly in place.
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What To Know
Polling throughout the first quarter of 2026 shows a volatile period for Trump’s standing with voters outside the Republican base, particularly independents.
A Quinnipiac University survey conducted from January 8 through January 12, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points, found that 40 percent of 1,133 self-identified registered voters approved of the way Trump was handling his job, while 54 percent disapproved.
That gave an overall net approval rating (those who approve minus those who disapprove) of minus 14 percentage points.
Among independents, approval stood at 33 percent, compared with 59 percent who disapproved, giving Trump a net approval rating of minus 26 points within that group.
Momentum slipped further in late January. In polling conducted among 1,191 self-identified registered voters from January 29 through February 2, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points, overall approval fell to 37 percent, while disapproval rose to 56 percent.
That produced an overall net approval rating of minus 19 points, demonstrating further slippage among the broader voting public.
Independent voters remained sharply negative, with 31 percent approving of Trump’s performance and 58 percent disapproving, a net rating of minus 27.
The shift suggested early governing decisions were failing to reassure voters who do not align with either major party.
By late March, skepticism hardened. A survey of 1,191 self-identified registered voters with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points conducted from March 19 through March 23 showed Trump’s approval among independents dropping to 25 percent, while disapproval surged to 68 percent.
That left Trump with a net approval rating of minus 43 among independents, marking a 17‑point deterioration since January.
Overall approval among all voters in the March poll showed little movement, holding at 38 percent approve and 56 percent disapprove, giving a net approval rating of minus 18.
April’s polling, however, showed a modest reversal among independents. In a Quinnipiac survey of 1,191 self-identified registered voters with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points, conducted from April 9 through April 13, some 38 percent approved of Trump’s job performance, while 55 percent disapproved, leaving his overall standing almost unchanged from March.
But among independents, approval rose to 27 percent and disapproval fell to 63 percent, narrowing Trump’s net approval gap to minus 36.
While still deeply negative, the shift marked the first improvement among independents since the start of the year.
The April movement does not bring independents back to where they were in January, but it does interrupt what had been a consistent downward slide.
Across all four surveys, Trump’s overall approval rating among registered voters has remained within a narrow range, fluctuating between 37 percent and 40 percent.
Disapproval has similarly stayed between 54 percent and 56 percent. The relative stability contrasts with the sharper swings seen among independents, who appear more responsive to short‑term developments early in the term.
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