President Donald Trump’s approval rating has slipped to 34%, according to a new Financial Times poll. This leaves him little time to win back voters before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The s
President Donald Trump’s approval rating has slipped to 34%, according to a new Financial Times poll. This leaves him little time to win back voters before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The survey, conducted by the FT and research firm Focaldata from Oct. 2 to 4, found only a quarter of registered voters approve of Trump’s handling of jobs and the economy. Just one in five approve of how he has managed inflation.
More than two-thirds of those polled said the U.S. economy is heading in the wrong direction. The poll comes after a weak September jobs report, which showed the economy added only 29,000 jobs.
The war with Iran has added to the pressure, pushing up fuel prices and borrowing costs. US diesel prices hit a record $6.53 a gallon late last month.
Trump is losing ground with his own supporters. Fewer than 70% of his 2024 voters now approve of his performance, down from 80% in May. However, about 80% of them still plan to vote Republican in November.
The Financial Times poll found registered voters prefer Democrats over Republicans by more than five percentage points. Nearly half said Trump is making it harder for Republican candidates to win.
The non-partisan Cook Political Report recently shifted 18 House races toward Democrats and expects the party to gain between nine and 19 seats.
A Democratic win could make life harder for the crypto industry, which has relied on Trump’s backing.
The industry’s top priority in Washington, the CLARITY Act, has already stalled. The bill, which would set out which regulator oversees different digital assets, was blocked in the Senate on Sept. 15, with every Democrat and a few Republicans, voting against it.
If Democrats take control of Congress, longtime crypto critics such as Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) could gain influence over the committees that shape financial rules.
That would make any new crypto law even harder to pass before Trump’s term ends.
Not all of the industry would be equally affected, though. Bitcoin is already treated as a commodity rather than a security, so analysts say it is less exposed to a stalled bill than smaller tokens, which still lack clear rules.
Earlier, VanEck’s Matthew Sigel has noted that Bitcoin held up well even under the Biden administration, while other cryptocurrencies faced more pressure.
So far, markets have taken the setback in stride. Bitcoin rose about 11% in the week after the Senate vote, though it remains more than 30% below its October 2025 record.
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