A significant new poll indicates that close to half of the American public believes President Donald Trump will be consigned to history as a "poor" or "below average" leader. The findings arrive as the President's approval ratings have plummeted to unprecedented depths in recent months.
Polling Data Paints a Damning Picture
The YouGov survey, published on Sunday 1st December 2025 and involving 26,645 U.S. adults, delivered stark results. It found that 40 percent of respondents think Trump will go down in history as a "poor" president, with a further eight percent categorising him as "below average".
In contrast, only 18 percent believed his legacy would be "outstanding", while 16 percent opted for "above average". Nine percent viewed him as average, and eight percent were unsure.
Deep Partisan Divides and Demographic Splits
The poll highlighted the expected chasm between Democratic and Republican voters. A staggering 73 percent of Democrats and just six percent of Republicans thought Trump would be considered "poor". Conversely, 42 percent of Republicans and a mere two percent of Democrats said he would be seen as "outstanding".
Independent voters leaned heavily negative, with 43 percent predicting a "poor" historical verdict and only 10 percent an "outstanding" one. The negative assessment held across all age groups, with the 45-64 and 65+ brackets most critical at 44 percent each.
Analysis by race showed 39 percent of white respondents foreseeing a "poor" legacy, compared to 21 percent predicting "outstanding". Among Black respondents, 46 percent said "poor" versus eight percent "outstanding". For Hispanic respondents, the figures were 38 percent and 16 percent respectively. Gender differences were less pronounced, with 43 percent of women and 37 percent of men anticipating a "poor" historical standing.
Approval Ratings in Freefall
This bleak outlook on Trump's legacy coincides with a severe downturn in his current approval numbers. According to The New York Times poll aggregator, the President now faces an average disapproval rating of 55 percent, with approval languishing at just 41 percent.
The decline, tracked since September, has been confirmed by multiple pollsters including Gallup, Ipsos, and Quinnipiac. A separate Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll last month revealed only 33 percent approval for Trump's management of the federal government—a ten-point drop from March.
Support within his own party has also eroded. Just 68 percent of GOP identifiers now approve of his government management, down from 81 percent in March. Among Independents, approval has halved from 38 percent to a mere 25 percent.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment on these findings.
