The Trump presidential record is again drawing scrutiny as a September 2026 Reuters/Ipsos poll shows low overall approval and a particularly weak rating on the cost of living. The numbers add a current measure of public opinion to a much larger debate about his two terms, his criminal conviction and how history will judge his presidency. They cannot, by themselves, determine whether he is the country’s worst president.
The poll, conducted September 17–20 among 1,277 U.S. adults, found that 32% approved of Trump’s overall job performance. Among Republicans, 73% approved. Only 17% of all respondents approved of his handling of the cost of living, according to Reuters. Ipsos reported a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points for the full sample; uncertainty is greater for smaller groups.
Those findings capture views at one point in an ongoing second term. They do not establish the cause of any economic problem, measure the full impact of a policy or predict how voters will assess the presidency years from now.
What the Trump presidential record includes
Trump’s first term ran from 2017 to 2021. He returned to the White House in January 2025 after winning the 2024 election. His administration’s record spans tax and trade policy, immigration enforcement, judicial appointments, foreign relations and the use of executive power. Each area invites a different set of questions about results and costs.
Supporters value his approach to immigration and trade, his tax policies and his willingness to challenge institutions they regard as unresponsive. Critics focus on his conduct surrounding elections, his treatment of government institutions, the effects of tariffs, living costs and the decisions of his second administration. Those are competing evaluations, and individual policy outcomes should be assessed with evidence rather than credited or blamed on one person automatically.
The cost-of-living result is especially consequential for the current debate. A low approval rating indicates dissatisfaction with Trump’s handling of the issue; it does not mean 83% of adults attribute every high price to him. Inflation, wages, housing costs, global events and decisions by businesses and other branches of government all matter to households. A fair assessment distinguishes the prices people face from the effects of particular presidential decisions.
The conviction and its limits as a measure
There is also a settled legal fact in the Trump presidential record. A New York jury found him guilty in May 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The case concerned records related to a payment made before the 2016 election. Trump denies wrongdoing and has challenged the conviction.
The judge imposed an unconditional discharge in January 2025. That sentence left the conviction in place but imposed no jail term, probation or fine. On August 28, 2026, a federal judge rejected another attempt to move the case into federal court and overturn the result. An appeal in New York state court remained pending at that time.
The conviction is relevant to judgments about a president’s conduct. It does not, on its own, settle a ranking of presidential performance, and it should not be described as a prison sentence. It also differs from disputes over official actions during his terms in office. Readers can weigh both the legal finding and the policy record without treating them as interchangeable questions.
What scholars have ranked—and what remains open
One documented expert assessment did put Trump last. In the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project survey, 154 usable responses from scholars placed him 45th among the presidents they considered. The survey was conducted from November to December 2023, after his first term and before his return to office. It measured expert assessments at that time, not an outcome for his unfinished second term or the views of all Americans.
The project also reported differences by party: Republican respondents placed Trump 41st, while Democratic respondents placed him 45th. Its published breakdown listed more Democrats than Republicans, a reason to understand the panel’s composition alongside its findings. Historical rankings depend on the questions asked, the people surveyed and the standards used. They can change as new records become available and later events alter judgments about earlier decisions.
For the present, the September poll documents substantial dissatisfaction, while the Republican figure shows continued support inside Trump’s party. The conviction remains in force as of the latest cited court ruling, with an appeal pending then. These facts give readers concrete starting points, but the claim that Trump will always be the worst president goes beyond what a poll, a verdict or a scholar survey can prove. Future polling, court decisions and the remainder of his term will add to the record that historians and voters evaluate.
