Polygraph

Donald Trump's current approval rating is below 30%.

Posted by Deadline: White House, Checked

Polygraph verdictFalse
Sources
7 contradict
Said
1 time·
Confidence
90%
Deadline: White HouseOct 22, 2026
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42 claimsThe check →

As of 2026-10-22, Trump's approval was 31% in the Reuters/Ipsos poll, the lowest reading of his presidency, and other polls and averages put it at 33-38%. No source reports a figure below 30%, so the claim that it was below 30% is contradicted, and later polls (32% to 37%) show it stayed above that line.

A detail. The sources confirm the gist; the verdict faults a detail such as a date, number or wording.

This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.

What was said

… The last time this happened and Donald Trump persuaded people that the election was stolen, he had close to a 50% approval rating. His people were by his side. He's now south of 30%. He doesn't have a nation that's going to believe him anymore, and so he's going to lose in the court of public opinion, and he is certain to lose in the court of law. Well, judges have been so—I mean, they haven't held back. …
Deadline: White House · · from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Contradicts. Reuters/Ipsos, a tier-1 source, reported Trump's approval at 31% in a poll that closed October 19, described as a record low and the lowest of either term, which is above 30%.[1][3]

Contradicts. Polling averages as of October 30 showed approval at 37% (New York Times), 37.3% (Silver Bulletin) and 38.4% (RealClearPolitics), all above 30%.[4][5]

Contradicts. Later polls also stayed above 30%: Reuters/Ipsos at 32% (conducted October 22-26), Emerson at 37%, and NPR/PBS/Marist at 40% among likely voters.[2][6][7]

Context. The extracted claim matches the passage's wording ('He's now south of 30%'), so the extraction is faithful. The post's 'south of 30%' appears to refer to the single 31% Reuters/Ipsos reading, which is a near miss and not a figure below 30%.[1]

Sources

7 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 tier 1, 5 not rated

  1. 1EXCLUSIVE: Trump's approval falls to record low of 31% as midterms near, Reuters/Ipsos poll findsreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts, context
  2. 2Trump approval ticks up to 32 percent: Surveythehill.com · tier 1 · cited for: contradicts
  3. 3Trump approval rating falls to career low in new pollusatoday.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
  4. 4Trump approval rating falls to new low in pre-midterms pollrmb.reuters.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
  5. 5Trump approval rating falls to new low in pre-midterms pollthestate.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
  6. 6Trump approval rating ticks upward in new poll ahead of ...yahoo.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
  7. 7Trump approval rises from record low to 32% ahead of midterm ...charlotteobserver.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts

Where this claim was made

Said in 1 published post

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