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Trump’s Abysmal Approval Rating is a Daunting Sign for Sununu
A new poll showing Donald Trump at an abysmal -25 net job approval rating in New Hampshire is a daunting sign for Trump-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate John Sununu, who is “running in [Trump’s] shadow.”
Amidst his costly tariffs, devastating health care cuts, and unpopular war with Iran, Trump’s approval rating has slipped more than 16 points from August 2025, yet Sununu has welcomed Trump’s endorsement, called this race “important to President Trump's agenda,” and emphatically told voters “we need to protect [Trump’s] gains.”
Read more below:
Boston Globe: President Trump’s job approval rating continues to slip in New Hampshire
- President Trump’s job approval rating is continuing to slip in New Hampshire, which could spell trouble for Republican candidates in the midterm elections just over three months away.
- The latest data from the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, released Wednesday, shows 37 percent of Granite Staters expressed approval of Trump’s performance, while 62 percent expressed disapproval. Although most Republicans still support him, most independents don’t, and it’s very rare to find a Democrat who does.
- Since last summer, Trump’s net approval rating in New Hampshire has fallen 16 percentage points, from negative 9 points in August 2025 to negative 25 points in July 2026, amid his unpopular war in Iran.
- Dante Scala, a UNH political science professor, said the latest numbers illustrate the challenging arithmetic for GOP contenders seeking federal office in New Hampshire.
- Someone like John E. Sununu or Anthony DiLorenzo — whom Trump has endorsed in New Hampshire’s races for the US Senate and First Congressional District, respectively — can likely count on Trump backers to deliver a baseline of electoral support, Scala said. But can they also win over enough of Trump’s critics and skeptics to get to 50 percent on Election Day?
- “That’s a heavy lift, I think, for any Republican candidate to be thinking about,” Scala said. “That’s just a lot to overcome.”
Granite Post: UNH poll: Trump’s slide in New Hampshire deepens. Ayotte and Sununu are running in his shadow
- President Donald Trump’s job approval in New Hampshire fell to 37% according to Granite State Poll data released Wednesday by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, with 62% of residents disapproving.
- His net rating of -25 is a point below June’s -24, which was already his worst reading in the state since October 2017.
- The number that sank Trump most this month is on the economy.
- Net approval of Trump’s handling of the economy dropped from -17 in June to -25 in July, an 8-point slide in a single month.
- His foreign affairs rating, which hit the lowest mark of either of his terms in June after the US attacked Iran, remained statistically unchanged at -27.
- The slide since winter is steep.
- Trump stood at -14 in February, before the Iran war, and the intensity of opposition has hardened since: 54% of all New Hampshire adults now say they strongly disapprove of the president, the fourth straight month that figure has sat at 52% or higher. His floor is holding at 79% approval among Republicans, while 23% of independents and 2% of Democrats approve. Among residents aged 18 to 34, 83% disapprove.
- That is the environment Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R), who endorsed Trump, and Republican Senate frontrunner John E. Sununu, who was endorsed by Trump in February, will face this fall, the New Hampshire political leaders most closely connected to Trump through recent endorsements. [...]
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