A slight majority of registered voters describe President Trump as corrupt and dangerous, a recent poll found, while just 14% say he isn't divisive.
The big picture: Simply put, polling hasn't been pretty for the president — or for his Iran war, tariffs or other top priorities. Still, with the midterms weeks away, Trump has centered himself, making the election a referendum on his presidency.
By the numbers: "Corrupt" (53%) and "dangerous" (51%) led the list of descriptors voters applied to Trump in the Sept. 11-14 The Economist-YouGov poll of 1,461 U.S. registered voters.
- Those words were followed by "out-of-touch" (47%), "cruel" (46%) and "bold" (45%).
- Just 18% said they'd use the word "steady" to describe the president.
Worth noting: Democrats are testing an anti-corruption midterm message as Americans' perceptions of government corruption hit a 20-year high, per Gallup's trend, and polls show Americans believe the president has inappropriately profited from cryptocurrency while in office.
- The results broke sharply by party — 91% of Democrats and 62% of independents said Trump was corrupt, compared with 10% of Republicans.
- Republicans weren't universally positive: Less than half (49%) said they'd use the word "honest" to describe the president. Just 10% said it didn't describe him, while 41% had no opinion.
- Similarly, 38% of Republicans said he was steady, while 53% said they had no opinion.
What they're saying: White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in an emailed statement that "President Trump has launched an all-out war on fraud across the entire federal government, holding criminals accountable and saving taxpayers billions of dollars."
- Ingle also accused Democrats in Congress of failing to stop waste, fraud and abuse in government.
Zoom out: Trump's approval rating ticked up from the lowest point of his political career, recorded last month in Reuters-Ipsos' trend, this month.
- Some 35% of Americans approved of his performance, up from 33% in the late August poll, per Reuters.
Between the lines: The last thing many Republicans want, Axios' Marc Caputo reports, is for Trump to make the midterms a vote on his popularity (or lack thereof).
- Still, Trump headlined both nights of the party's midterm convention in Dallas and pledged a $5,000 dividend to every adult U.S. citizen if Republicans keep control of Congress — a plan that would cost more than $1 trillion.
Friction point: YouGov's polling found that a majority signaled they believe it's unlikely Trump actually follows through with the idea, which Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has said would require congressional approval.
- More than four in 10 (41%) said he definitely wouldn't do it, while an additional 16% said he probably wouldn't. More said it was a bad idea (45%) than those who said it was a good idea (38%).
Methodology: This Economist-sponsored poll was taken September 11-14, 2026. Respondents were selected from YouGov's opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens, and screened for voter registration. The margin of error is ± 3.3%.
Go deeper: Even some Republican voters sour on Trump