Trump approval at 33 percent, lowest of term, as Iran conflict drags

President Donald Trump's standing with the American public has sunk to its lowest point of his second term, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll that shows just 33 percent approval and 64 percent disapproval. The four-day survey, completed Monday, marks a two-point drop from earlier this month and matches the nadir of his first term in late 2017.

The decline follows Trump's decision to join Israel in striking Iranian targets, an escalation that quickly disrupted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and sent gasoline prices higher across the United States. Roughly a fifth of global oil trade has been affected, adding immediate pressure to household budgets already sensitive to inflation. Trump had campaigned on pledges to contain prices and avoid drawn-out foreign entanglements, yet the conflict has now stretched well beyond the few weeks he initially projected.

Public skepticism about a quick resolution runs deep. Eighty percent of respondents, including 71 percent of Republicans, said they expect U.S. involvement to last an extended period. Only 16 percent believed the fighting would wind down soon. Trump has defended the higher fuel costs at rallies, arguing the military action serves a larger purpose, but the economic fallout is already registering with voters ahead of November's midterm elections.

The polling weakness arrives alongside a blunt assessment from one of the country's leading political forecasters. University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato told former CNN anchor Jim Acosta this week that historians will place Trump at the very bottom of presidential rankings once his time in office ends. Sabato, whose Crystal Ball projections have accurately called recent Senate shifts, said the judgment would be definitive rather than relative.

He noted that past occupants of the lowest rungs, including Warren Harding and Richard Nixon, still appear less tarnished by comparison. Sabato described Nixon as almost a "choir boy" next to Trump and pointed to the cumulative weight of corruption concerns, institutional challenges, and policy outcomes as the basis for the projected last-place finish. Acosta, hosting his independent program with roughly 80 days until the midterms, registered visible surprise at the prediction and returned to it in closing remarks, saying it no longer seemed like a stretch to foresee scholars settling on that verdict.

Trump's current 33 percent approval in the Economist/YouGov poll aligns with the Reuters/Ipsos findings and underscores the political headwinds facing Republican candidates defending congressional majorities. The combination of sustained conflict abroad and rising domestic costs has left the president with little room to rebuild support before voters render their next judgment.