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Economy

Trump approval rating hits 33%, lowest of his presidency, as Iran war fears grow

President Donald Trump’s approval rating slipped to 33% in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, matching the trough he last touched in December 2017.

Source: South China Morning Post · August 17, 2026 at 7:51 PM · AI-assisted report

Corroborated
Trump approval rating hits 33%, lowest of his presidency, as Iran war fears grow
Image: scmp.com

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 AUGUST 2026 —

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President Donald Trump’s approval rating slipped to 33% in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, matching the trough he last touched in December 2017.

Market Impact

The four-day online survey, which closed on Monday, showed 64% of adults disapproved of his performance, up from 61% in the poll that ended two weeks earlier. The reading is down from 35% in the previous survey and ties his prior low of 33% recorded in December 2017.

Eighty per cent of Americans—including 71% of Republicans and 87% of Democrats—expect the conflict with Iran to drag on, the poll found. Only 16% believe it will end within weeks. The fighting, which flared after US-Israel strikes on Iran, has disrupted about a fifth of global oil trade and pushed petrol prices higher, straining US households and Trump’s Republican allies ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Trump campaigned on keeping inflation in check and avoiding long wars, initially predicting the conflict would last “a few weeks.” He argued military action was needed to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but Iran’s resilience and control over the Strait of Hormuz have kept oil flows constrained even as hostilities have cooled.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll gathered responses from 1,166 US adults nationwide and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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Reporting based on South China Morning Post. Figures and claims are subject to revision as the story develops. DomainFork publishes editorial context, not investment advice — see our editorial standards.