--- description: Challenges in multiple regions across the world have sunk President Obama's foreign policy approval ratings to new lows title: President Barack Obama's Approval Ratings Plummet to New Lows image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb49148573be53040/6986981155a859816ca816be/presobamairaq.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Obama's Foreign Policy Approval Rating Falls to New Low by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 18, 2014 12:16 PM CUT  President Barack Obama makes a statement on the situation in Iraq on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on June 13, 2014. President Barack Obama makes a statement on the situation in Iraq on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on June 13, 2014.Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 18, 2014 12:16 PM CUT Obama’s foreign policy approval rating has [plummeted](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/nbc-wsj-poll-obamas-foreign-policy-rating-plummets-even-without-n133461 "undefined") to the lowest level of his presidency as he deals with multiple overseas challenges in countries including Iraq, Ukraine, and Afghanistan, according to a new poll. The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that just 37 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s handling of foreign policy—an all-time low in the survey for the President’s tenure—while 57 percent disapprove. The Obama administration’s decision to exchange five imprisoned Taliban fighters for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was unpopular, with Americans disagreeing by a 44 percent to 30 percent margin with the swap. “This is a bad poll for President Obama, and not a good poll for anybody else,” Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted the survey with Democrats Peter Hart and Fred Yang, told NBC. Obama’s overall approval rating is tied for an all-time low at 41 percent, down three points from April. The poll was conducted among 1,000 adults between June 11-15, before the recent collapse of cities in northern Iraq to extremist Sunni militants, so it does not reflect public opinion of that unfolding event. Its overall margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points. \[[_NBC_](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/nbc-wsj-poll-obamas-foreign-policy-rating-plummets-even-without-n133461 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2893687/obama-foreign-policy-nbc-wsj-poll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2893687/obama-foreign-policy-nbc-wsj-poll/"},"headline":"Obama's Foreign Policy Approval Rating Falls to New Low","datePublished":"2014-06-18T12:16:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:28:41.947Z","description":"Challenges in multiple regions across the world have sunk President Obama's foreign policy approval ratings to new lows, according to a new WSJ/NBC poll","url":"https://time.com/2893687/obama-foreign-policy-nbc-wsj-poll/","keywords":["White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb49148573be53040/6986981155a859816ca816be/presobamairaq.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb49148573be53040/6986981155a859816ca816be/presobamairaq.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Barack Obama makes a statement on the situation in Iraq on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on June 13, 2014.","caption":"President Barack Obama makes a statement on the situation in Iraq on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on June 13, 2014.","creditText":"Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2893687/obama-foreign-policy-nbc-wsj-poll/","name":"Obama's Foreign Policy Approval Rating Falls to New Low"}}]}] ```