Trump's Approval Rating Is at a Historic Low Before the Midterm Elections

President Donald Trump is heading into the midterm elections with one of the lowest approval ratings of any sitting president in modern history. A poll by the Pew Research Center found that only 30 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing. That number is the lowest any president has had going into a midterm election since Harry Truman back in 1946. This is making things very difficult for the Republican Party as November's elections get closer.

Midterm elections happen in the middle of a president's term. All seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and about one-third of Senate seats are up for election. Voters often use these elections to share how they feel about the president and his party. Experts say this is a well-known pattern in American politics.

Much of the public's unhappiness seems to be about the economy. A poll from the Associated Press and NORC found that only 26 percent of adults approved of how Trump is handling the economy. An even smaller number — just 17 percent — liked how he was dealing with the cost of living. Rising prices and economic worries are clearly a big deal to many Americans.

Foreign policy is also causing concern among voters. The same poll showed that only 28 percent of people approved of how Trump handled the war in Iran. Peter Enns, a professor at Cornell University, said the conflict in Iran is a big reason Trump's numbers are so low. He explained that people connect Trump's decisions to very high gas prices, and they don't like what they see. Enns said it is 'very unusual' for a president to take so many unpopular positions at once.

Polls show that voters care a lot about these issues when they go to vote. Pew Research found that 84 percent of registered voters say the economy is a 'very important issue' in the midterms. Foreign policy also matters, with 57 percent saying it will affect how they vote. These numbers suggest that Trump's low ratings on both topics could hurt his party on Election Day.

Historically, the party that controls the White House tends to lose seats during midterm elections. Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Northeastern University, said voters often want balance in Washington. He said that when one party controls everything, voters can easily blame that party if things go wrong. Right now, he said, 'there's simply nobody else to blame' besides the Republican Party.

There have been rare exceptions to this trend, though. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, President George W. Bush had a 63 percent approval rating. That high support helped Republicans actually gain seats in both the House and Senate during the 2002 midterms. Experts say an event that strongly unites the country behind a president can change the usual pattern.

Right now, Democrats appear to be more motivated to vote. A PBS News/NPR/Marist poll found that 91 percent of Democrats are enthusiastic about voting in the midterms, compared to 86 percent of Republicans. Democrats are also doing well in some key state races, including in Texas where Democratic candidate James Talarico holds a narrow lead over Republican Ken Paxton. The results in November could reshape how much power each party has in Washington.