3 new polls show “how bad things have gotten for Trump”

A trio of national polls released over the past two weeks point in the same direction: more Americans now say Donald Trump has done a worse job as president than Joe Biden.

Newsweek contacted the White House via email for comment. 

Why It Matters

Perceptions of presidential performance are a powerful leading indicator in midterm years, shaping turnout, enthusiasm and candidate recruitment. 

When multiple polling firms converge on the same judgment, it can harden narratives that influence down‑ballot races.

What To Know

Taken together, the three surveys offer a rare point of agreement across very different polling operations. 

Each asks voters to directly compare Trump’s performance with Biden’s—and in each case, Trump fails to secure majority approval relative to his predecessor.

The most recent comes from The Economist/YouGov, which surveyed 1,730 U.S. adult citizens between February 6 and 9, 2026. 

Respondents were drawn from YouGov’s opt‑in panel and weighted to be representative of adult U.S. citizens aged 18 and over. 

Asked whether Trump is doing a better or worse job than Biden, 46 percent said Trump is doing worse, while 40 percent said he is doing better. 

Seven percent said the two were about the same, and another 7 percent were unsure. 

The poll carries an adjusted margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.

A similar verdict emerges from Rasmussen Reports, a firm historically associated with Republican‑leaning results. 

Rasmussen conducted a national survey using a mix of telephone and online interviews from February 2 to 4, 2026, among 1,094 likely voters. 

With a margin of error of 3 percentage points, the poll asked: “Comparing Donald Trump to Joe Biden, which one has done a better job as president? Or are Trump and Biden about the same?” 

Biden was favored by an 8‑point margin, 48 percent to 40 percent, with the remainder saying there was no difference.

Rasmussen’s numbers carry outsized symbolic weight. 

When an incumbent president underperforms in a head‑to‑head comparison in a survey house that often shows more favorable Republican results, it suggests the weakness is broad rather than methodological.

Chris D. Jackson, a Democratic political strategist, described the numbers as “brutal” in a post on X.

The third data point comes from the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll, conducted online January 28 and 29, 2026, among 2,000 registered voters by The Harris Poll and HarrisX. 

Respondents were recruited through opt‑in web panels, with results weighted for demographic and political characteristics including age, gender, region, race and party identification. 

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.99 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. 

When asked whether Trump is doing a better or worse job than Biden did as president, 51 percent said worse, while 49 percent said better. 

The “better” figure was down from 53 percent in December. While the Harvard/Harris result is close, the movement is one‑directional, edging Trump below the 50 percent threshold. 

Across all three polls, the pattern is consistent: Trump struggles to command majority confidence when directly measured against Biden’s record. 

For analysts, this is less about any single percentage point and more about convergence.

Different samples, different modes, different weighting schemes—yet the same underlying story.

What People Are Saying

Democratic political strategist Chris D. Jackson said in a post on X: “Three polls in one week all say the same thing. A majority of Americans believe Joe Biden was a better president than Donald Trump.

“When even Rasmussen shows it, you know how bad things have gotten for Trump. Democrats should have stood and rallied behind Biden in 2024. Instead, it took watching Trump run the country into the ground for some people to figure it out. Biggest self-own in American history.”

Kush Desai, a White House spokesperson, previously told Newsweek: “Nearly 80 million Americans gave President Trump a resounding Election Day mandate to end Joe Biden’s economic disaster and immigration crisis. The Trump administration remains laser‑focused on continuing to cool inflation, accelerate economic growth, secure our border and mass deport criminal illegal aliens.”

President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social last week: “The highest Poll Numbers I have ever received. Obviously, people like a strong and powerful Country, with the best economy, EVER!”

What Happens Next

If similar results persist, Republicans may face a tougher fight defending marginal seats, while Democrats will test whether voter dissatisfaction at the top of the ticket can translate into midterm gains.