WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s approval rating fell to 38%, the lowest since his return to power, with Americans unhappy about his handling of the high cost of living and the investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

The four-day poll, which concluded on Monday, comes as Trump’s grip on his Republican Party shows signs of weakening. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a measure to force the release of Justice Department files on Epstein. Trump had opposed the move for months while one of his closest supporters in Congress, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, turned into a harsh critic over his resistance. Trump reversed his position on Sunday as lawmakers prepared to move forward without him.

The survey showed Donald Trump's overall approval has fallen two percentage points since a Reuters/Ipsos poll in early November.

via Associated Press

The survey showed Trump’s overall approval has fallen two percentage points since a Reuters/Ipsos poll in early November.

The poll, which was conducted online, surveyed 1,017 U.S. adults nationwide and had a margin of error of about 3 percentage points.

Trump started his second term in office with 47% of Americans giving him a thumbs up. The nine-point decline since January leaves his overall popularity near the lows seen during his first term in office, and close to the weakest ratings for his Democratic predecessor in the White House, Joe Biden. Biden’s approval rating sank as low as 35% while Trump’s first-term popularity fell as low as 33%.

REPUBLICAN SUPPORT SLIDES

Trump has weathered a host of crises during his political career, including multiple prosecutions after he left office that were related to attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Through it all, he has kept a strong level of support among Republican voters. The new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed his approval rating among Republicans at 82%, down from 87% earlier in the month.

This year, the president has been particularly dogged by perceptions he isn’t doing enough to help households with everyday expenses, an issue that also hit Biden’s administration hard and contributed to Trump’s victory over Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, in last year’s presidential election. “It’s all about prices,” said Doug Heye, a Republican political strategist. “People are furious when they go out and spend money at the grocery store, and they can’t believe what they are spending.”

Just 26% of Americans say Trump is doing a good job at managing the cost of living, down from 29% earlier this month. The pace of inflation has remained high by historic standards since Trump took office in January. U.S. consumer prices were up 3% in the 12 months through September, even as the job market has weakened. Some 65% of respondents - including one in three Republicans - disapprove of Trump’s performance on the cost of living.

Trump’s signature economic policy push has been to hike taxes on imported goods to prop up American manufacturing, but many economists believe the policy has led to higher prices. Expressing frustration over the public perception of his handling of the economy, Trump last week dialed back import taxes on coffee, beef, bananas and other staples.

MIDTERM ELECTIONS AHEAD

His sagging popularity could make Republicans more vulnerable in next year’s congressional elections, though the Reuters/Ipsos poll showed voters continue to see Trump’s Republican Party as having a better approach to economic policy. “What we’re seeing is probably the biggest test of his presidency in terms of his grip on the Republican Party,” said Mike Ongstad, an independent strategist and former Republican who has not supported Trump’s presidential campaigns.

Only 20% of Americans - including just 44% of Republicans - approve of how Trump has handled the Epstein case, the Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. Some 70% of poll respondents - including 87% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans - said they believe the government is hiding information about Epstein’s clients.

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