61% of Americans say 79-year-old Trump has grown more erratic with age, poll finds

New poll measures views on Trump

A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 61% of Americans describe President Donald Trump as having become erratic with age.

The survey reached 4,638 U.S. adults online over six days ending Monday, Feb. 24, with a margin of error of about two percentage points.

The results landed just before the 79-year-old president delivered his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night.

Party lines shape the results

The numbers break down along familiar lines, but with a twist. About 89% of Democrats called Trump erratic with age, and 64% of independents said the same.

The more notable figure came from Republicans: 30% of the president’s own party agreed. White House spokesman Davis Ingle pushed back on the findings, calling them “fake and desperate narratives.”

Still, that three-in-ten figure from within Trump’s base stands out.

Fewer Americans call Trump mentally sharp

The poll also asked whether Trump is mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges. Only about 45% of respondents said yes.

That is down from 54% in a September 2023 Reuters/Ipsos poll that used the same question.

The drop means fewer Americans today express confidence in the president’s mental fitness than they did roughly two and a half years ago, before his second term began.

Independents drove the biggest shift

The steepest decline came from independents. Only 36% now say Trump is mentally sharp, down 17 points from 53% in the 2023 poll.

Among Democrats, the share fell from 29% to 19%. Republicans held steady, with 81% still describing the president as sharp.

That gap between how Republicans and everyone else view Trump’s fitness has grown wider since 2023.

Other polling firms show similar trends

Reuters/Ipsos is not alone in these findings. A Pew Research Center survey from late January found Trump’s overall approval at about 37%.

That same Pew survey found that Republican confidence in Trump’s mental fitness fell from 75% to 66% over the past year.

A CNN poll from Feb. 17-20 put his overall approval at about 36%, with independents at just 26%, the lowest of either term.

Approval has slid since inauguration day

Trump’s approval sat at about 40% in this latest Reuters/Ipsos poll.

When he took office in January 2025, both Reuters/Ipsos and Gallup measured his approval at about 47%. That is a seven-point drop in just over a year.

His numbers have trended downward across multiple polling firms since mid-2025, a pattern that shows no sign of reversing as his second term continues.

Trump holds the oldest-president record

Trump returned to office in January 2025 at age 78, making him the oldest president ever sworn in. He turned 79 in June 2025.

The previous record belonged to Joe Biden, who was also 78 at his inauguration in 2021.

The poll’s “erratic” question was a specific prompt, not open-ended, meaning respondents chose whether the word fit rather than coming up with their own description.

Biden’s exit made age a bigger issue

Trump won the 2024 election partly because voters saw Biden as having lost mental sharpness. Biden dropped out of the race in July 2024 after a debate performance raised serious fitness concerns.

During that debate, the then-81-year-old president lost his train of thought and struggled to finish sentences.

His withdrawal from the race turned age and mental fitness into a central issue in American presidential politics.

The State of the Union backdrop

Trump delivered his address Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, his first State of the Union of his second term.

The speech came after a month of clashes with the Supreme Court over tariffs and heated remarks aimed at lawmakers and judges.

Several polls released in the days before the address showed majority disapproval of his job performance. The timing put his approval numbers front and center heading into the speech.

Midterm elections loom in November

The 2026 midterm elections will decide control of Congress, and both parties see the races as a referendum on Trump’s second term.

CNN polling found Trump’s strong approval among Republicans dropped from 64% after his 2025 congressional address to 49% now. Approval among young voters and Latino Americans has seen some of the steepest declines.

November is still months away, but the trend lines give both parties plenty to watch.

Deep partisan split defines the debate

The poll results reflect the deep divide that runs through American politics today. Republicans overwhelmingly view Trump as sharp and capable.

Democrats and independents overwhelmingly do not. Few Americans land in the middle, according to polling experts.

Strong approval and strong disapproval dominate, and the gap between how Republicans and non-Republicans see the president’s fitness has only widened since 2023.

Age question follows Trump through his term

Trump faces continued scrutiny over his age and mental fitness as his second term moves forward. He would break Biden’s record as the oldest sitting president if he completes his term in January 2029.

The age question now touches both parties, having shaped the last two presidential races.

The 2026 midterms in November will offer the next major test of how voters weigh those concerns against policy outcomes.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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