Gallup ends nearly 90-year run of presidential approval polling

Gallup will no longer conduct polling on presidential job approval, ending a practice that dates back to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration. — Image credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images

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Summary

Gallup ends presidential approval polling

Gallup confirmed it will stop surveying Americans on presidential job approval after nearly 90 years.

Firm shifts to issue-based research

The company says it will focus instead on broader analytics and policy research aligned with its mission.

Final poll showed Trump at 36%

Gallup’s last approval survey in December put President Donald Trump at 36%, his lowest mark of his second term.

Full story

Gallup will no longer conduct polling on presidential job approval, ending a practice that dates back to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration.

The research firm confirmed it is shifting away from approval ratings and will instead focus on broader issue-based analytics and policy research.

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Strategic shift in focus

Gallup described the move as part of a larger realignment of its public work.

“Our commitment is to long-term, methodologically sound research on issues and conditions that shape people’s lives,” spokesman Justin McCarthy told Straight Arrow News.

McCarthy said the change is “part of a broader, ongoing effort to align all of Gallup’s public work with its mission,” and emphasized the firm’s commitment to independent research. When asked by The Hill whether the White House or administration officials weighed in ahead of the decision, Gallup said the shift was “solely based on Gallup’s research goals and priorities.”

The company noted that “leadership ratings have been part of Gallup’s history,” but added that “the context around these measures has changed.”

Founded in 1935 by George Gallup, the organization built a reputation for its live, telephone-based surveys — a method that became less common as polling moved online.

Gallup’s presidential approval ratings have long served as a benchmark for news organizations, political analysts and historians tracking shifts in public opinion. Its Presidential Job Approval Center, which remains online, charts ratings dating back to the Truman administration.

Final Trump approval numbers

Gallup’s final presidential approval survey was released in December. It put President Donald Trump’s approval rating at 36% — the second consecutive month at that level and the lowest of his second term, according to Gallup.

The same survey found just 17% of respondents approved of the job Congress was doing. Approval stood at 24% among Democrats and 29% among Republicans.

Trump’s approval rating peaked at 47% shortly after returning to office in February of 2025.

Polling landscape continues

Gallup’s exit does not leave a vacuum in presidential polling. Morning Consult, Harvard-Harris, The Wall Street Journal, Economist/YouGov and others continue to track approval and favorability. RealClearPolitics aggregates many of those surveys for comparison.

Gallup said it will continue to release research through its Social Series, Quarterly Business Review and World Poll, among other products.

Craig Nigrelli

Craig Nigrelli is an anchor and reporter for Straight Arrow News.

Tags: Donald Trump, Gallup poll, Politics, Poll, Research

Why this story matters

Gallup has ended its 88-year practice of tracking presidential approval ratings, removing a widely cited benchmark that media outlets, political analysts and historians have used to measure public opinion of presidential performance.

Loss of historical comparison tool

Readers can no longer rely on Gallup's consistent methodology spanning nine decades to compare current presidential performance against historical patterns, eliminating a standardized reference point for evaluating leadership.

Shift in available political information

News coverage and political analysis will now draw from a different mix of polling sources, as the most historically established approval rating has been discontinued.

Questions about polling industry pressures

The decision follows documented declines in survey response rates and comes after the sitting president publicly threatened legal action against pollsters reporting unfavorable numbers.

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Behind the numbers

Trump's Gallup approval rating peaked at 47% in February 2025 before falling to 36% by December, matching his lowest second-term rating. His first-term average was 41.1%, the lowest of any postwar president. George W. Bush holds the highest recorded approval at 90% in September 2001, while Harry Truman hit the lowest at 22% in February 1952.

Context corner

Gallup began tracking presidential approval in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Founder George Gallup established the principle that polling would not be sponsored by special-interest groups like political parties. The approval rating became what Gallup researcher Frank Newport called "probably the most frequently used public opinion measure in history."

Debunking

Gallup spokesperson Justin McCarthy told multiple outlets the decision was "a strategic shift solely based on Gallup's research goals and priorities" and denied White House pressure influenced the change. The company stated approval ratings are now "widely produced, aggregated and interpreted" by many organizations.

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Sources

Bias comparison

Media outlets on the left Gallup's decision to cease presidential polling as directly linked to Donald Trump's "awful" or "tanking" approval rating, highlighting his 36% final measure and employing sarcastic language like "won't have to worry."
Media outlets in the center remain strictly descriptive.
Media outlets on the right portray Gallup as having "admitted what voters already know," suggesting a validation of public skepticism regarding polling challenges, while explicitly reporting Gallup's denial of any connection to Trump's threats.

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Media landscape

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Key points from the Left

Gallup, founded in 1935, has tracked presidential approval ratings for 88 years and will stop publishing these ratings starting in 2026 as part of a strategic shift focusing on other research areas.
Gallup's presidential approval polls have been a key measure since the 1930s, recording historic ratings such as President Truman's low of 22% and President Eisenhower's average of 61%.
President Donald Trump had some of the lowest approval ratings in Gallup's history, with December 2025 approval at 36% and never surpassing 50% during his term.

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Key points from the Center

On Feb. 11, Gallup announced it will stop measuring and publishing presidential approval ratings this year, ending a decades-long practice tracked by the Washington D.C.-based analytics firm.
A Gallup spokesperson explained the move reflects an evolution to align public research and thought leadership with its mission and focus on issues shaping people's lives, calling it "a strategic shift based on Gallup's research goals and priorities."
Since 1938, Gallup has reported presidential approval, creating historical comparisons dating to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and establishing the Presidential Job Approval Rating.

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See Hide headlines from Center sources 24 sources

Key points from the Right

Gallup will stop tracking presidential approval ratings after nearly 90 years due to declining response rates and structural pressures in the polling industry.
Response rates for national telephone surveys have dropped from over 30% in the 1970s to about 6% today, increasing polling challenges.
The presidential approval rating question was designed for a mid-20th century media environment and now fails to capture emotional intensity, volatility or narrative shifts in modern politics.

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