A new poll has shared the president’s latest approval rating as more Americans — including some within his own party — continue to raise questions about his cognitive health.
Worries about Donald Trump’s judgement have been mounting, with many pointing to the ongoing war in Iran as a key factor. But it’s not the only development that has fueled debate about his mental sharpness in recent weeks.
Some Republicans have criticised the 79-year-old after he posted an AI-generated image that many interpreted as portraying him as Jesus. Trump later said it was meant to be viewed as him as a doctor, a clarification that did little to ease the reaction.
The updated approval rating arrives amid a public dispute with Pope Leo XIV, who has condemned the US for its role in the conflict with Iran.
Following criticism from hundreds of conservatives, Trump told reporters on Friday (April 17) that he has ‘a right to disagree with the Pope’, after also describing him as ‘weak on crime’ and ‘terrible for foreign policy’.
Even so, the president appears keen to reinforce support among Christian conservatives. On Tuesday evening (April 21), he attended a marathon Bible reading event.
Trump read from 2 Chronicles during the ‘America Reads the Bible’ gathering at the Museum of the Bible in Washington.
Despite the high-profile appearance — which some have viewed as an attempt to reassure religious supporters — a six-day Reuters/Ipsos public opinion poll has reported his newest approval numbers.
Trump hit his best rating of his current term shortly after returning to office on January 20, when it reached 47 percent.
Now, the latest figures indicate that 36 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s performance as of April 2026.
He has faced rising calls to bring the war with Iran to a close, after his administration entered the conflict alongside Israel in February. The situation has also coincided with oil prices climbing worldwide to record highs.
The poll also found that just 26 percent of Americans described Trump as ‘even-tempered’.
Between aggressive rhetoric about adversaries and strained relations with long-standing allies — including the UK — the president’s capacity and temperament have become frequent talking points.
In early 2025, Trump was asked in an interview with the New York Post whether he planned to remove Prince Harry from the US amid continued scrutiny of his immigration status.
“I don’t want to do that. I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife,” he said. “She’s terrible.”
Before a 2025 Oval Office meeting, Ukraine’s president arrived wearing a black long-sleeved polo shirt bearing the Ukrainian trident, having said he would not wear a suit until Russia’s invasion ends.
Trump greeted Zelenskyy with a joke: “Oh look, you’re all dressed up.”
There was also the dispute involving Greenland, when Trump argued the territory should become part of the US and suggested Denmark did not have the ‘right’ to it.
However, Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark and has been tied to Denmark for centuries.
In another 2025 moment, Trump — who previously sold branded plastic straws during his 2020 campaign — took aim at paper straws, insisting they fail in use and dissolve.
“These things don’t work,” he said. “I’ve had them many times, and on occasion, they break, they explode.”
During his March 2025 address to Congress, Trump claimed the Biden administration had spent $8 million on experiments involving ‘transgender mice’.
PBS later reviewed the statement and said it was inaccurate, with PBS News Hour White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López stating ‘the idea that scientists are making mice transgender is false’.
“These experiments were studying the effects of gender-affirming hormones on asthma and on whether gender-affirming hormones increase breast cancer risk,” Barrón-López explained.
On his first day back in office for a second term in January 2025, Trump signed an executive order directing the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America as a nod to ‘American greatness’.
That change, however, applies only to US federal communications and government maps.
On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump also drew attention for calling for ‘one real rough, nasty’ and ‘violent day’ of police retaliation to stamp out crime ‘immediately’ — prompting comparisons by some observers to The Purge.
“One rough hour — and I mean real rough — the word will get out and it will end immediately, you know? It will end immediately,” Trump said to the crowd in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Another 2024 campaign moment saw Trump attack his opponent, former vice president Kamala Harris.
He told his supporters: “We have to tell Kamala Harris that you’ve had enough, that you just can’t take it anymore. We can’t stand you, you’re a s**t vice president. The worst.”