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President Donald Trump's approval rating dropped to 42%, matching its lowest percentage of his second of two non-consecutive terms, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Trump, 78, had previously dropped to 42% on April 21 before rising two points to 44% on May 13. The latest three-day poll, which concluded on Sunday (May 18), was reported to have a 3% margin of error.
Trump's popularity is, however, still higher than his first term, as well as former President Joe Biden's during the latter half of his 2021-2025 term, according to Reuters. The president's all-time lowest approval rating in the Reuters/Ipsos poll was 33% on December 12, 2018, about halfway through during his first term, while Biden dropped below 42% in June 2022 and only matched that percentage twice for the remainder of his term.
Trump's approval rating previously rose by 2% from 42% on April 21 to 44% in the Reuters/Ipsos poll released on May 13. The poll also showed that his net approval rating increased from -8 on April 21 to -1 on May 13, with the trend being addressed by CNN data guru Harry Enten during a live broadcast this week.
"Time for a reality check... I think some folks thought Trump's approval rating would keep falling, but it's rising. Ipsos has his net approval going from -8 pts to -1 pt with voters. Aggregate has him up higher than late April too & much higher than at this point in term 1," Enten wrote on his X account, along with a clip of his analysis.
Trump's approval rating was also reported to have increased by double-digits within the past two weeks, according to the conservative-leaning Rasmussen Reports index history. Trump's approval index broke even at zero on Monday (May 12) after dropping to as low as -11 on April 25.
The approval index did drop to -3 on May 13, however, Trump's total approval increased to 52%, which was his highest rating since March.