Trump urges Republicans to vote as if he's on ballot. What polls say
President Donald Trump may not be on the ballot this election season, but he's been busy encouraging Michigan Republicans to vote like he is, but poll numbers suggest that might not be a winning strategy.
Trump rallied a crowd of around 3,000 supporters in Port Huron on Sunday, Oct. 25, drawing support for U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers, of White Lake Township, a former U.S. representative, and gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. John James, of Shelby Township, ahead of the midterm elections.
Despite the enthusiasm among his base, Trump is polling poorly overall with his job performance disapproval rating reaching as high as 66% in an Oct. 22-26 Reuters/Ipsos poll. In Michigan and nationwide, an Oct. 26 Civiqs poll found 60% disapproval for Trump's job performance.
Real Clear Politics , which aggregates data from numerous polls, shows Trump's average approval rating as of Oct. 26 was just 38.4% — 21.7 percentage points below his average disapproval rating of 60.1%.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, but absentee ballots became available weeks ago and early in-person voting is underway.
Here's what to know about Trump's approval ratings.
Trump stumps for Michigan Republicans ahead of midterms
President Donald Trump rallied a crowd of about 3,000 in Port Huron Oct. 25 in support of gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. John James and U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers.
James is running against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, and Rogers is running against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.
How did the NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll rank Trump?
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Among likely voters, 59% disapprove of Trump's job performance, while 40% approve
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Among likely voters, 58% have an unfavorable impression of Trump, while 37% have a favorable impression
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Among registered voters, 61% disapprove of Trump's job performance, while 38% approve
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Among registered voters, 59% have an unfavorable impression of Trump, while 35% have a favorable impression
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The phone, text and online survey of 1,289 U.S. registered voters, and likely voters, was conducted by Marist Poll in partnership with NPR and PBS News from Oct. 19-20, 2026 and has a margin of error of ±3.7 percentage points for registered voters and ±3.8 percentage points for likely voters.
How did the Reuters/Ipsos poll rank Trump?
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66% disapprove of Trump's job performance, while 32% approve
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63% are unfavorable toward Trump, while 32% are favorable
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The Reuters/Ipsos survey was conducted using the probability-based Knowledge Panel for a probability sample of 1,679 U.S. adults from Oct. 22-26, 2026 and has a margin of error of ±2.4 percentage points.
How did the Rasmussen Reports poll rank Trump?
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58% disapprove of Trump, while 41% approve
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The poll results are from Oct. 27, 2026
The Rasmussen Reports survey did not break down party affiliation of respondents or Trump's approval ratings on policy issues.
How did the Economist/YouGov poll rank Trump?
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59% disapprove of Trump's job performance, while 40% approve
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55% said it feels like Trump is on the ballot, even though there's no presidential election in 2026, while 35% said it does not feel like Trump is on the ballot
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The survey of 1,501 U.S. registered voters was conducted Oct. 19-20, 2026 and has a margin of error of ±3 percentage points.
How did the Civiqs poll rank Trump?
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Nationwide and in Michigan, 60% disapprove of Trump's job performance, while 34% approve
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The online survey was compiled Oct. 26, 2026
The Detroit Free Press contributed.
Contact Jenna Prestininzi: jprestininzi@freepress.com .
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Trump urges Republicans to vote as if he's on ballot. What polls say
