After 8 Decades, Gallup Says It Is Ending Presidential Approval Tracking Polls

In a significant shift for the polling industry, Gallup says it will discontinue its presidential approval ratings after more than 80 years of tracking.Starting this year, the agency will stop publishing approval and favorability ratings for individual political figures, the company announced Wednesday. In a statement to The New York Sun, the company explained that the move “reflects an evolution in how Gallup focuses its public research and thought leadership.”“For nearly a century, Gallup’s U.S. polling has provided rigorous, independent insight into the American people — their perspectives, values and lives,” spokesman Justin McCarthy tells The Sun.“Leadership ratings have been part of Gallup’s history. At the same time, the context around these measures has changed. They are now widely produced, aggregated and interpreted, and no longer represent an area where Gallup can make its most distinctive contribution,” the spokesman said.For decades, the Gallup Presidential Approval Rating served as one of the nation’s primary barometers for measuring public sentiment regarding the president’s performance. However, the firm says it is now pivoting toward broader societal metrics.“Our commitment is to long-term, methodologically sound research on issues and conditions that shape people’s lives,” Mr. McCarthy said. “That work will continue through the Gallup Poll Social Series, the Gallup Quarterly Business Review, the World Poll, and our portfolio of U.S. and global research.”The decision comes following a period in which President Trump’s ratings as measured by the agency have slipped considerably. His approval peaked at 47 percent last February, shortly after taking office for the second time, before dipping to less than 37 percent in December — among the lowest the organization had recorded for a president since its inception.Gallup says there was no pressure from the White House that influenced its decision. “This change is part of a broader, ongoing effort to align all of Gallup’s public work with its mission,” the spokesman said. “We look forward to continuing to offer independent research that adheres to the highest standards of social science.”But Mr. Trump last month did threaten legal consequences for The New York Times after the paper released a joint poll with Siena suggesting that a majority of independent voters were unhappy with his leadership of the country.“The Times Siena Poll, which is always tremendously negative to me, especially just before the Election of 2024, where I won in a Landslide, will be added to my lawsuit against The Failing New York Times,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Our lawyers have demanded that they keep all Records, and how they ‘computed’ these fake results — Not just the fact that it was heavily skewed toward Democrats. They will be held fully responsible for all of their Radical Left lies and wrongdoing!” he wrote.“Fake and Fraudulent Polling should be, virtually, a criminal offense,” Mr. Trump wrote in a subsequent post.The cancellation of the poll marks the end of a long-running historical dataset. President Kennedy, for instance, holds some of the highest marks in Gallup’s history, averaging 71 percent from 1961 to 1963. President Eisenhower was also popular, maintaining an average of 61 percent from 1953 to 1961. Meanwhile, President Truman averaged 45 percent between 1945 and 1953, while President Biden held an average approval rating of 42 percent during his term from 2021 to 2025.

After 8 Decades, Gallup Says It Is Ending Presidential Approval Tracking Polls

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