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By Anna Commander
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President Donald Trump's approval rating among millennials has slipped to a new second term low, a poll from YouGov/The Economist shows on Tuesday.
Previous surveys have also found that the president's job approval ratings have fallen, including those on the economy, potentially hurting the Republican Party's chances of keeping both congressional chambers in the upcoming midterms this year.
Trump has also landed record or near‑record lows among other key voting blocs, including Gen Z and independent voters, potentially compounding headwinds for the White House and GOP amid public concern over the cost of living and the war with Iran.
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What Did Trump Say About The Poll?
In an email to Newsweek on Tuesday, when asked about the new poll, White House Spokesman Davis Ingle said, “The ultimate poll was November 5th 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.”
However, D. Stephen Voss, a political science professor at the University of Kentucky, also told Newsweek on Tuesday via email that, "Millennials have reached the age when they're increasingly likely to vote. Republicans already struggle with that age group, and the situation hasn't been improving significantly as the Millennials age. Trump cannot afford more slippage from the already low level of support he receives from the Millennial generation."
What The Most Recent Poll Said
According to the poll, Trump's overall approval rating is 37 percent versus a 57 percent disapproval rating. Among those aged 30 to 44 years old, the president has a 28 percent approval rating versus a 62 percent disapproval rating. This is the first time during Trump's second term that he has landed an approval rating with millennials below 29 percent.
The poll was taken from May 15 to May 18, 2026, among 1,549 U.S. adults with a margin of error of 3.3 percent.
Grant Davis Reeher, professor of political science at Syracuse University, told Newsweek via email on Tuesday that, "The overall erosion in the president’s approval ratings is still the consequence of the accumulation of many policies, orders, actions, and statements during his term. There is no one reason or single inflection point. Certainly, the war in Iran and the quick, steep rise in gasoline prices have only added to the longer term trend. On top of that, with the country so polarized, probably the very best he could hope to do is 55 percent or so."
Reeher added, "I suppose that the silver lining here for the president—if there is one at all—is that the younger half of the millennials are in an age group that doesn’t vote as often as older citizens, especially in non-presidential year elections. I don’t think there are any magic beans that can change this quickly. Digging out would likely take much longer than it took to fall into this approval hole. It’s unlikely that the war in Iran is going to turn into a perceived great success in short order, or that the perceived and felt impact of tariffs will fundamentally change, and so on."
Previous Polling
In a survey taken by the pollster last week, Trump's overall approval rating was 36 percent, and his disapproval rating is 58 percent. Among those aged 30 to 44-years-old, Trump's approval rating was 33 percent versus 60 percent disapproval. The poll was taken from May 9 to May 11, 2026, among 1,549 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of 3.5 percent.
In a poll taken in the beginning of May and at the end of April, the president landed a 29 percent approval ratings among those aged 30 to 44-years-old.
What to Watch Next
Polling will be closely tracked in the coming weeks as both parties look for signs of movement ahead of the midterm elections. Analysts say sustained weakness with younger voters and independents could shape Republican campaign strategy, while upcoming economic data and developments in the Iran conflict may influence whether Trump's approval ratings stabilize or continue to decline.
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