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Trump Sets A Stunning Second Term Disapproval Record Before The State Of The Union

Trump will head into the first State Of The Union of his second term as the least popular second term president of this century.

Jason Easley's avatar
Jason Easley
Feb 23, 2026
∙ Paid

With the exception of Bill Clinton, presidents usually don’t get more popular in their second term than they were in their first. Trump being less popular in his second term is a special case because Donald Trump was also the least popular president of this century in his first. Trump is the only president in history to never top 50% job approval.

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An unpopular president who spent his first year pursuing policies that made him even more unpopular while ignoring the reason that voters elected him is a recipe for political disaster.

The level of Trump’s unpopularity before the first State Of The Union of his second term has never been seen in this century.

Video of Sarah Jones talking about the country and the culture turning on Trump:

George W. Bush’s net approval rating was (-11) before his first second term SOTU. Barack Obama’s was a net (-15). Donald Trump is nearly twice as unpopular as Obama and almost three times as unpopular as Bush at a net (-27).

Tariffs, inflation, and immigration are wrecking Trump’s approval rating, and the president has shown no sign of willingness to adjust these policies to make himself and his party more popular ahead of the midterm, but there is one specific group of voters, who also happen to be the largest group of voters in America, who have soured on Trump.

We’ll talk about them below.

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