--- title: Donald Trump's Approval Rating Hits Historic Low description: An new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows just 39% of Americans approve of President Trump canonical: https://time.com/5109669/president-trumps-approval-rating-low/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-19T16:14:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:56:16.819Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Is Ending His First Year as the Most Unpopular President in Modern History og:description: An new poll shows just 39% of Americans approve of President Trump og:url: https://time.com/5109669/president-trumps-approval-rating-low/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda91e081853ce1cc/6988f8c1ab6d7708216b168e/donald-trump-approval-rating-poll.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Trump Meets With Defense Secretary Mattis And Senior Military Leaders At The Pentagon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Is Ending His First Year as the Most Unpopular President in Modern History twitter:description: An new poll shows just 39% of Americans approve of President Trump twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda91e081853ce1cc/6988f8c1ab6d7708216b168e/donald-trump-approval-rating-poll.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Is Ending His First Year as the Most Unpopular President in Modern History > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jan 19, 2018 4:14 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media after arriving for a meeting at the Pentagon, on January 18, 2018 in Arlington, Virginia. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media after arriving for a meeting at the Pentagon, on January 18, 2018 in Arlington, Virginia. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jan 19, 2018 4:14 PM UTC President Trump will end his first year in office more unpopular than any president in modern history, according to a poll released Friday. A new NBC News/_Wall Street Journal_ poll finds that just 39% of Americans approve of Trump’s performance, the lowest figure the poll has found for a modern president completing one year in office, according to [NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/poll-more-half-americans-strongly-disapprove-trump-n838926). Trump’s [overall approval rating](http://time.com/5055847/donald-trump-approval-rating-2/) is lower than past presidents at the same point in their positions, including George W. Bush, who ranked 82%, Bill Clinton at 60% and Barack Obama, who was at a 50% approval rating one year in. Trump’s approval ratings have maintained a [steady low](http://time.com/5103776/donald-trump-approval-rating-graph/) across different polls during his first year in office. Fifty-seven percent of respondents to the NBC/WSJ poll said they disapprove of Trump, including 51% who said they “strongly disapprove.” According to the poll, 46% of men approve of Trump while just 33% of women responded the same. 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