President Donald Trump‘s approval rating on the economy has fallen to a new low among women, with just over a quarter approving of how he is handling the issue, according to a CBS News Battleground Tracker poll released.
What the CBS News poll found
The CBS News/YouGov survey among 2,460 U.S. adults, found that 27 percent of women approved of Trump’s handling of the economy, down five points from July. Just 22 percent approved of his handling of inflation, a three-point decline over the same period.
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points and was weighted to reflect the national adult population by gender, age, race, education and 2024 presidential vote.
Trump’s overall job approval among women also fell, from 36 percent in the July 22-24 poll to 33 percent in September. Sixty-seven percent disapproved of his overall performance.
Why the numbers matter
Economic management has traditionally been one of Trump’s stronger issues with voters, making the decline among women significant heading into the midterm elections.
All 435 House seats and 33 Senate seats are up for election, with control of either chamber potentially shaping the remainder of Trump’s presidency.
Women have also been among Trump’s weakest demographic groups and tend to lean Democratic. Pew Research Center’s National Public Opinion Reference Survey found that 52 percent of women lean Democratic, compared with 38 percent who lean Republican.
The CBS News poll’s authors said prices and inflation are driving voter sentiment against the party in power, echoing dynamics seen in the 2018 midterms. Most voters also said they preferred congressional candidates who oppose new tariffs and U.S. involvement in the conflict with Iran.
Trump’s campaign message
Speaking to supporters at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Trump urged voters to treat the election as a referendum on his presidency.
“Pretend that I’m on the ballot. I’m on the ballot, just one more time,” Trump told the crowd.
A broader pattern of declining numbers
The CBS News findings come as other polls show Trump’s economic standing weakening.
A Financial Times/Focaldata poll published September 5 found that 33 percent of registered voters approved of Trump’s overall performance, down three points from the previous month and the lowest reading since the series began.
The poll also found that 66 percent believed the U.S. economy was headed in the wrong direction, while 57 percent said they were financially worse off under Trump, up from 53 percent the previous month.
CNN’s Poll of Polls, which averages six national surveys, put Trump’s approval at 35 percent and disapproval at 63 percent as of September 1. RealClearPolling’s average for August 16 through September 8 showed a higher approval rating of 39.5 percent, but Trump remained underwater with less than two months before the midterms.
The White House response
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle has previously dismissed concerns about Trump’s approval ratings, telling Newsweek that the roughly 80 million Americans who voted for Trump gave him a mandate to “deliver on his popular and commonsense agenda.”
Ingle added, “No other President in history has accomplished more for the American people than President Trump, who is working tirelessly to create jobs, cool inflation, increase housing affordability and more.”
