Donald Trump approval ratings improve ahead of November 3 US midterm elections. Will it help Republicans?

Donald Trump approval ratings seem to be gaining a slight favourable momentum in urban areas of the United States of America. The approval rating has improved in the month of October, days ahead of November 3 US midterm elections.

In July, President Trump had 23 per cent approval and 76 per cent disapproval, with a net negative of 53. In August, President Trump had 28 per cent approval and 71 per cent disapproval with a net negative of 43. In September, Trump had 26 per cent approval and 72 per cent disapproval with a net negative 46. In October, President Trump had 33 per cent approval and 66 per cent disapproval with a net negative of 33, NewsWeek reported citing Echelon Insights Verified Voter Omnibus surveys.

Aforementioned data shows that net negative for President Trump has dropped in October at least in urban areas, as per the NewsWeek report.


Donald Trump's Foreign Policy

Foreign policy is rarely the deciding factor in US midterm elections, when economic considerations usually drive voters’ choices. But this time, with Donald Trump’s war against Iran and his sweeping tariff campaign pushing up costs for Americans, a president’s approach to world affairs has itself become a pocketbook issue.

As the November 3 elections approach, there are growing signs that voters are drawing that connection directly, creating a major liability for Trump and his fellow Republicans and imperiling their control of Congress.

Those include a Reuters/Ipsos poll earlier this month showing some 78 per cent of Americans blame Trump's policies for rising prices that are outpacing their earnings. Not since 2006, when President George W. Bush’s Republicans lost both legislative chambers while he was mired in the unpopular Iraq war, has a US leader’s handling of international events appeared so central to shaping the midterms outcome.

Trump Approval Ratings

With Trump’s approval ratings touching historic lows, he has left little doubt, despite his public claims to the contrary, that he sees the straight line voters are drawing between his foreign policy and their cost of living. That has prompted some controversial policy moves in the run-up to the elections.

Midterm elections historically have been seen as a referendum on the performance of the incumbent in the White House. And in one election after another in recent decades, the conventional wisdom has been that economic concerns - “it’s the economy, stupid,” as the Clinton-era adage goes - dominate voters’ choices.

Opinion polls for this year’s midterms, including the Reuters/Ipsos survey, show that while voters rank foreign policy low on their list of priorities, it is clear that most Americans see some of Trump’s signature moves on the world stage, such as the Iran war and tariffs, feeding into their higher costs.

Other polls have shown that a majority of Americans have also soured more broadly on Trump’s international approach. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs said its latest nationwide survey “finds that most Americans believe the Trump administration’s foreign policy actions have negatively impacted America’s global standing and hurt national and household economic conditions.”

Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has shaken up the rules-based global order that Washington helped create from the ashes of World War Two while his relations with allies have steadily worsened and the limits of US power have been increasingly exposed, analysts said.