Gallup will no longer measure presidential approval after 88 years

Gallup will no longer track presidential approval ratings after more than eight decades doing so, the public opinion polling agency confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday.

The company said starting this year it would stop publishing approval and favorability ratings of individual political figures, saying in a statement it “reflects an evolution in how Gallup focuses its public research and thought leadership.”

“Our commitment is to long-term, methodologically sound research on issues and conditions that shape people’s lives,” a spokesperson for the agency said. “That work will continue through the Gallup Poll Social Series, the Gallup Quarterly Business Review, the World Poll, and our portfolio of U.S. and global research.”

The news was first reported by The Washington Post.

The Gallup Presidential Approval Rating has for decades been the among the top barometers cited by media outlets measuring public opinion of the president’s performance.

President Trump has seen his rating by the agency slip in recent months, peaking at 47 percent last February and dipping to less than 37 percent in its last poll taken in December.

“This change is part of a broader, ongoing effort to align all of Gallup’s public work with its mission,” a spokesperson for Gallup said. “We look forward to continuing to offer independent research that adheres to the highest standards of social science.”

When asked by The Hill if Gallup had received any feedback from the White House or anyone in the current administration before making the decision, the spokesperson said, “this is a strategic shift solely based on Gallup’s research goals and priorities.” 

Trump’s Gallup approval rating as of last December was among the lowest the organization had found since it began taking the poll in the 1930s. 

Former President Truman earned an average approval rating of 45 percent during his time in office from April 1945 to January 1953; former President Biden earned an average approval rating of 42 percent from January 2021 to January 2025. 

Former President Kennedy experienced some of the highest average ratings Gallup has ever recorded, 71 percent from January 1961 to November 1963, and former President Eisenhower topped out at an average of 61 percent from January 1953 to January 1961. 

Over the years, Gallup’s polling business has grown to include surveys outside of partisan politics, asking about subjects such as employee workplace engagement, public views on the spread of AI and other global indicators of public trust and happiness with major institutions. 

Updated at 12:07 p.m. EST