U.S. President Donald Trump just hit the lowest approval rating of his current term. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday shows that only 34 percent of Americans approve of the job he is doing. This marks a noticeable drop from the 36 percent rating he held just a week earlier during the April 15 to April 20 polling period. When Trump first took office in January 2025, he enjoyed a solid 47 percent approval rating. Since then, those numbers have steadily fallen as everyday citizens deal with growing domestic and international problems.
The polling team collected the vast majority of these survey responses right before a shocking security breach happened over the weekend. On Saturday night, Secret Service agents stopped a gunman who tried to enter a hall where Trump was eating dinner. The president was attending the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner when the scare occurred. Federal prosecutors quickly stepped in and charged the captured suspect with attempting to assassinate the president. Because the poll wrapped up right as this news broke, the final 34 percent approval number likely does not reflect any public sympathy or reaction to the foiled attack.
Voters seem mostly focused on their wallets right now. The same survey revealed that only 22 percent of respondents approve of how Trump handles the current cost of living in the United States. This specific economic rating dropped from 25 percent in the previous poll. People feel incredibly frustrated when they check their bank accounts, and the main source of this financial anger sits right at the local gas station.
The American Automobile Association released fresh data on Tuesday showing exactly how much pain drivers face at the pump. The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline climbed to $4.18. This steep cost represents the highest price American drivers have seen in nearly 4 years. The price jumped exactly 7 cents in a single day on Tuesday, marking the largest one-day price spike the country has experienced in over a month.
This explosion in gas prices traces back to a very specific date. Fuel costs began to soar after the United States and Israel launched joint military strikes against Iran on February 28. Since those attacks began late that month, the average price of gasoline has surged by a massive $1.19 per gallon. This means regular families now pay over 40 percent more to fill up their cars than they did just a few weeks ago.
The military conflict threw the global energy market into chaos. The fighting severely restricted the movement of large cargo ships through the Strait of Hormuz. This narrow waterway serves as a critical global chokepoint. Under normal conditions, about 20 percent of all the oil and natural gas supplies in the world pass through this exact strait. With warships and missiles blocking the path, energy companies simply cannot deliver their fuel to buyers on time.
Wall Street traders reacted wildly to the blocked shipping lanes last week. Brent crude futures, a major global oil benchmark, jumped by roughly 16 percent. At the same time, West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices in the United States rose nearly 13 percent. Earlier this month, oil prices began to drop as traders hoped diplomats would negotiate a peace deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. When those peace efforts completely stalled, panic set in and sent crude oil prices shooting back up.
The combination of a frozen peace process and skyrocketing fuel prices puts immense political pressure on the White House. When energy costs rise, the price of everything else goes up, too. Trucking companies pay more to deliver food to the grocery store, and airlines charge more for summer travel tickets. The voters see these rising costs everywhere they look, and they direct their anger straight at the president.
Trump now faces a massive uphill battle to win back the public trust he held back in January 2025. Unless diplomats can secure a ceasefire in the Middle East and get the oil tankers moving again, gas prices will likely stay high. Until American drivers see some real relief at the gas pump, the president will struggle to push his approval rating back out of the low 30s.
