President Donald Trump’s approval rating is underwater in the majority of states in America on Memorial Day, according to recent polling that underscores the country’s entrenched political and geographic polarization.
According to Civiqs’ daily online tracking poll, based on 106,368 responses collected between the start of Trump’s second term on January 20, 2025 and May 23, 2026, Trump’s net approval rating is negative in 36 states and positive in 14, highlighting how broadly his support has eroded beyond Republican strongholds.
The polling comes on the federal holiday, which falls on Monday, May 25 this year, and honors members of the U.S. Armed Forces who died while serving.
Why It Matters
Trump’s approval rating will become increasingly important ahead of this year’s midterm elections as, while the president is not on the ticket, the elections are seen as a way for voters to cast their judgment on his term in office. Historically, midterms serve as a referendum on the sitting president, often shaping the final two years of their legislative agenda. The ballots in key seats across the country could change the balance of power in the U.S.
Traditionally, the party that does not hold the White House tends to do better in midterm elections. In 2018, Republicans lost the House. Republicans have slim majorities in both chambers of Congress and losing the House or Senate would affect the GOP’s ability to pass key legislation and advance its policies.
Using the Civiqs data, Newsweek has created a map to show the president’s approval rating in every state.
Newsweek reached out to the White House by email to comment on this story.
Key Points
- Trump’s approval stands at 36 percent nationally, with 59 percent disapproval, based on a rolling Civiqs poll of more than 106,000 registered voters
- Support remains strongest in deep red states like Wyoming (net approval: +26) and West Virginia (+16)
- Only 14 states show net positive approval, while the remaining 36 report more disapproval than approval, highlighting a heavily polarized map
- Opposition is entrenched in deep blue states, with disapproval approaching or exceeding 70 percent in states such as Hawaii, Vermont and Maryland
- Civiqs uses a large national panel and statistical modeling in its research
States With Highest Approval Ratings
The strongest results cluster in deep-red Republican states that backed Trump by wide margins in the 2024 election and have historically formed the core of his electoral coalition. Across much of the Plains, Mountain West, and parts of Appalachia, his approval numbers remain positive even as national sentiment turns negative, reflecting a base that has stayed largely intact since his return to office.
Trump’s approval rating was highest in Wyoming, where he has a net approval of 26 percentage points.
North Dakota was second with Trump scoring a 17-point approval rating, and West Virginia was a close third with a 16-point approval rating.
These three states all delivered decisive victories for Trump in 2024 and have consistently ranked among his best-performing states in earlier Civiqs polling reported by Newsweek.
Idaho (+14) and Alabama (+11, tied with South Dakota) round out the strongest-performing states, all of them reliably Republican.
States With Lowest Approval Ratings
At the other end of the map, the weakest results are concentrated in heavily Democratic states that voted against Trump in 2024, particularly on the West Coast and in the Northeast, where opposition to the president remains deeply entrenched.
Hawaii (-61), Vermont (-57), and Maryland (-50) record the lowest net approval ratings for the president.
These states have consistently ranked among Trump’s worst-performing in previous Civiqs snapshots reported by Newsweek, often recording disapproval rates approaching or exceeding 70 percent, with little sign of movement over time.
California and Massachusetts (both -45) also rank among the weakest states, reflecting deep Democratic opposition.
Other Trump Polling
The Civiqs polling comes amid a series of other negative polling about the president. A New York Times/Siena College poll found Trump’s disapproval rating at 59 percent, the highest recorded in that survey.
Meanwhile, a CNN poll released on May 12 found that Trump’s overall disapproval rating hit 66 percent—its highest level across his two nonconsecutive terms in the White House.
The poll was conducted from May 11 to May 15, 2026, among 1,507 registered voters using live telephone interviews in English and Spanish, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
Trump’s Memorial Day Message
Trump branded Democrats as “Dumocrats” in his Memorial Day message Monday morning.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: “Happy Memorial Day to all, including the Dumocrats, who disrespect our Military and all of the tremendous success that it has had over the last year. God Bless those that have made the ultimate sacrifice. I love you all! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
In a follow-up post, he wrote: “The Dumocrats have BAD POLICY, AND BAD CANDIDATES. Other than that, they are doing quite well! President DJT”
White House Response
The White House has not responded to the new polling, but White House spokesman Davis Ingle previously told Newsweek that “the ultimate poll was November 5th 2024 when nearly 80 million Americans overwhelmingly elected President Trump to deliver on his popular and commonsense agenda.”
