Donald Trump’s low approval rating puts Republicans on defensive ahead of US midterm elections

President Donald Trump’s approval rating has hovered near a career low, in the low 30s, as voters prepare for Tuesday's congressional midterm elections. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, a broad portion of the electorate views the upcoming vote as a way to oppose the Republican president. The Daily Maverick reports that on a generic ballot question, voters preferred Democrats over Republicans 46% to 38%, an 8-percentage-point advantage that is narrower than the 11-point lead reported in a poll from the previous week.

Republican vulnerabilities are linked to rising fuel prices and the war against Iran, which began in February, according to the Daily Maverick. Reuters Business via SCMP reports that the United States attacked Iran's Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, a move The Wall Street Journal characterized as defensive and aimed at deterrence.

A poll by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and YouGov shows Indian American voters plan to support Democrats over Republicans by significant margins. The survey of 1,000 Indian American adults found that 62% intend to vote for Democratic candidates in US House districts and 63% favor Democrats in Senate races. Hindustan Times - World News notes that these voters are shifting from the support they gave Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

Brief written by urgent.news from Daily Times, Reuters Business via SCMP, Hindustan Times - World News, Daily Maverick, Gulf News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.