Trump, Eyeing Declining Poll Numbers, Suggests ‘Fake’ Polls About Him Should Be ‘Criminal Offense’

Following the release of a particularly bad poll result last week, President Trump now suggests that surveys which publish poor approval rating numbers for him should be made illegal. He says he is suing the New York Times for a poll released in conjunction with Siena College showing that he has an approval rating of just 40 percent. Mr. Trump’s overall job approval rating and his approval rating on specific issues has declined significantly in recent months, with polling aggregators showing him deeply underwater with voters. One average of polls from Silver Bulletin shows the president now has an approval rating of 41 percent and a disapproval rating of 55 percent. Another poll average from RealClearPolitics finds his job approval rating at only 43 percent and his disapproval rating at 55 percent. On Monday, he said that publishing negative poll results should be a crime because such polls are “Fake and Fraudulent.”“Fake and Fraudulent Polling should be, virtually, a criminal offense,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. He complained about press coverage of polling in the last presidential election, saying that reporters “knew what they were doing, trying to influence the Election.” “Something has to be done about Fraudulent Polling. Even the Polls of FoxNews and The Wall Street Journal have been, over the years, terrible!” Mr. Trump exclaimed. “There are great Pollsters that called the Election right, but the Media does not want to use them in any way, shape, or form. Isn’t it sad what has happened to American Journalism, but I am going to do everything possible to keep this Polling SCAM from moving forward!”The screed on Monday was seemingly precipitated by the Times–Siena poll released late last week, showing that the coalition which helped propel him back to the White House — including young voters, Hispanic voters, and lower-income, blue collar Americans — have turned against him in a significant way. One of the most devastating results from the poll finds that only 34 percent of self-identified independent voters approve of his job performance, though GOP voters are sticking by him, with 85 percent of Republicans saying they approve of his performance. Overall, Mr. Trump’s overall approval rating fell to 40 percent in this last survey, down significantly from the Times–Siena result at this time last year, which found a majority of Americans gave Mr. Trump positive marks. His disapproval rating in the latest poll is 57 percent. Among young voters, the collapse in just the last 15 months has been significant. In October 2024, 43 percent of voters under the age of 30 viewed Mr. Trump favorably. Now, just 26 percent say they approve of his performance as president. Before the last presidential election, he had a net negative favorable rating of only five points among young voters, with 48 percent saying they viewed him favorably. With a 26 percent job approval rating in this most recent poll, his net negative approval rating has grown to 69 points — a net negative of 43 points. Among voters without a college degree, there has also been an important decline in support for Mr. Trump. In October 2024, those who do not hold a college degree gave Mr. Trump a favorable rating of 55 percent and an unfavorable rating of 43 percent. Now, only 45 percent of those same non-college voters approve of his job performance in the White House, while 52 percent disapprove — a net shift of 19 points. “[T]here’s more evidence that the economy is driving voters away from Mr. Trump than anything else,” the Times’s chief political analyst, Nate Cohn, says in his write-up of the poll results. “On question after question, voters give him negative marks on his handling of that issue, including just 34 percent who approve of his handling of the cost of living, compared with 64 percent who disapprove. This is his second-worst result in the poll, trailing only his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.”After the Times–Siena poll was made public last week, Mr. Trump lashed out against the outlet, saying that the survey was skewed in order to harm him politically, though there is no evidence of that being the case. The president says he is including the poll result in his $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the Times, which was filed last year, arguing that it is another aspect of the outlet’s “fake” reporting on him. As of Monday, any mention of the poll has yet to be filed with the court, according to the public docket.

Trump, Eyeing Declining Poll Numbers, Suggests ‘Fake’ Polls About Him Should Be ‘Criminal Offense’

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