NBC poll finds 71% say U.S. is on wrong track as Trump approval hits 34%
A new NBC News Decision Desk/SurveyMonkey poll found a second-term low for Donald Trump’s approval and a 10-point Democratic advantage among registered voters asked which party should control Congress.
Seventy-one percent of U.S. adults say the country is on the wrong track, while President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 34%, according to an NBC News Decision Desk poll released October 18. Both readings are the worst the NBC News/SurveyMonkey series has recorded during Trump’s second term.
The survey found 66% of adults disapproved of Trump’s job performance, including 51% who strongly disapproved. Among registered voters, his rating was somewhat better but still negative: 39% approved and 61% disapproved.
NBC News said SurveyMonkey polled 19,135 adults online from September 28 through October 12. The reported margin of error was plus or minus 2.6 percentage points. As with any poll, the results are an estimate of opinion at the time of fieldwork rather than a prediction of the November 3 election.
Democrats lead the congressional preference
Registered voters preferred Democratic control of Congress to Republican control by 55% to 45%. That national measure cannot show which party will win individual House districts or Senate races, but it indicates a difficult political environment for the party holding the White House and both chambers of Congress.
The poll also found dissatisfaction with both parties. Among all adults, 43% viewed the Democratic Party favorably and 57% viewed it unfavorably. The Republican Party’s rating was 37% favorable and 63% unfavorable. Trump retained approval from 76% of Republican adults, while his approval stood at 21% among independents.
Two groups that moved toward Trump in the 2024 election also gave him low marks in the survey. His approval was 28% among men younger than 30 and 31% among Latino adults. Those subgroup findings can be less precise than the overall result because they are based on smaller samples.
Economic concerns weigh on Trump’s ratings
The economy ranked as the most important issue for 31% of respondents. Forty-four percent said their financial situation was worse than it had been a year earlier, while 38% said it was about the same and 18% said it was better.
Trump received 27% approval for his handling of the cost of living. His ratings were 29% on the war with Iran, 33% on artificial intelligence, and 43% on border security and immigration, his strongest issue in the survey. Overall, 58% said his policies were hurting the country, compared with 28% who said they were helping; 14% said the policies made no difference.
The poll also tested Trump’s promise of $5,000 payments if Republicans retain control of Congress. Only 14% of adults said they definitely or probably expected to receive such a payment, while 71% said they probably or definitely would not. Even among self-identified Republicans, 47% did not expect a payment and 28% did.
Corruption and impeachment produce mixed results
Fifty-two percent of adults described the Trump administration as more corrupt than previous administrations. Roughly one-quarter called it less corrupt, and another quarter said it was about as corrupt. At the same time, 56% said corruption was equally bad in both major parties, compared with 25% who saw it as a bigger Republican problem and 17% who considered it worse among Democrats.
Respondents divided closely over what a Democratic House should do if the party wins control: 52% favored beginning impeachment proceedings against Trump and 48% opposed that step. The question measures public preference, not whether grounds for impeachment exist or whether Congress would act.
The NBC poll is separate from an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos survey released earlier in the weekend. The two polls used different samples, field dates and methods, so their percentages should not be treated as directly interchangeable. Their broad findings nevertheless point in the same direction: weak approval for Trump, economic frustration and a Democratic advantage in national congressional preference shortly before voting ends.
Sources and image credit
Reporting and methodology: NBC News; primary questionnaire and topline results: NBC News Decision Desk poll document.
Image: President Donald Trump on the White House South Lawn on October 5, 2026, photographed by Daniel Torok for the White House. Wikimedia Commons source record. Official White House photograph, public domain. Cropped to 16:9 and resized to 1600×900 with no text added. The image is illustrative and predates the poll’s release.