Trump approval in rural America slips to new low: Survey

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A new Reuters/Ipsos survey found that President Trump’s approval rating among rural Americans has sunk to a new low.

The poll, conducted June 3-8, found that 50 percent of respondents from rural areas approved of Trump. In February 2025, 60 percent of respondents to a similar survey approved of the president.

Trump’s disapproval rating among rural Americans, meanwhile, rose from 34 percent in February 2025 to 48 percent in the latest poll. The June survey had a margin of error of 3 percentage points for those in rural areas.

That dipping approval rating can be traced to the increase in gas, food and fertilizer prices during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The U.S. and Iran reached a tentative deal to end hostilities on Sunday.

While the price of gas has fallen in recent weeks, it is still more than $1 above where it stood in the days before the war began, according to AAA. The increase stemmed from the Iranian military restricting shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which could reopen as part of the agreement between Washington and Tehran.

Food prices also rose 0.5 percent from March to April and 0.2 percent from April to May, after not increasing from February to March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS also reported that food prices in May were up 3.1 percent year-over-year.

But the Iran war is not the only development to impact the lives of rural Americans. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law last July, instituted an array of changes to Medicaid in an attempt to crack down on waste within the program.

Those include a new requirement, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2027, that certain adults on Medicaid work or engage in community service for at least 80 hours per month. They can also be enrolled in an educational program for at least 40 hours per month.

The National Rural Health Association noted last July that new requirements “may be difficult to meet in rural areas where jobs are seasonal, informal, or less accessible and residents face unique barriers like lack of broadband or transit.”

The taxing and spending legislation also created a $50 billion fund for rural health providers to offset losses associated with other health provisions in the measure.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll reached 4,531 respondents with an overall margin of error of 2 percentage points.

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