POTUS Approval On Key Issues Leading Into Midterms: After about 100 days in office, President Donald Trump’s job approval rating stands at 42% in Gallup polling. President Barack Obama’s was 68% around this same time in 2009. Mr. Obama’s approval dropped to 44% by the time his party lost control of the U.S. House in the 2010 midterms. He enjoyed a positive 51% overall job approval in the spring 2013, but had dropped to 41% by the time the GOP won a U.S. Senate majority in Nov. 2014.
At this point in 2009, Mr. Obama had good approval numbers on issues like handling the economy (55%), health care (57%), and foreign affairs (66%). But by his first midterm, those numbers dropped to 35%, 44%, and 49%, respectively. Though he rebounded the year before the 2014 midterms on foreign affairs (49%) and immigration (40%), by Nov. 2014 Mr. Obama’s weak ratings on the economy (33%), health care (43%), foreign affairs (42%), and immigration (32%) hurt his party at the polls.
Mr. Trump’s approval numbers on health care (36%) and foreign affairs (43%) are much lower than Mr. Obama’s were at this point during his presidency, and much lower than they were when Mr. Obama’s party was losing the 2010 and 2014 midterms. His approval ratings on the economy (49%) and immigration (41%) are higher, however. If Mr. Trump can sustain positive numbers on the economy, Republicans may have a better chance of maintaining their majorities when voters cast their ballots in Nov. 2018.
