Gallup said Wednesday it will stop tracking and publishing presidential job approval and political figure favorability ratings this year, ending a public opinion yardstick it helped define for nearly nine decades.

A Gallup spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that the company will cease publishing individual politicians' favorability and approval ratings, adding that this decision "reflects an evolution in how Gallup focuses its public research and thought leadership."

Gallup is among the best-known names in U.S. polling, having pioneered systematic presidential job approval polling as a way to gauge public satisfaction with how presidents were performing their duties.

The agency's presidential approval series dates to 1938, when founder George Gallup began asking Americans whether they approved of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's job performance. 

Over time, Gallup's approval ratings became one of the most widely cited benchmarks of presidential standing, used by news organizations, scholars and political strategists to compare incumbents across eras.

President Donald Trump's standing in Gallup's second-term polling has softened since early in his term.

In a Jan. 21-27, 2025, survey, Gallup reported Trump's initial second-term job approval at 47%. By late November 2025, Gallup said his approval had fallen to 36% while disapproval rose to 60%, a new second-term low in its monthly series.

The agency's most recent presidential approval poll, conducted in early December 2025, still shows Trump's approval rating at 36%, with 59% disapproving.

The company said the shift will allow it to place greater emphasis on other research.

"Our commitment is to long-term, methodologically sound research on issues and conditions that shape people's lives," a Gallup spokesperson said. "That work will continue through the Gallup Poll Social Series, the Gallup Quarterly Business Review, the World Poll, and our portfolio of U.S. and global research."

The spokesperson added, "This change is part of a broader, ongoing effort to align all of Gallup's public work with its mission. We look forward to continuing to offer independent research that adheres to the highest standards of social science."

For nearly nine decades, the company’s monthly or periodic presidential approval ratings offered a consistent historical barometer of public sentiment, enabling direct comparison of current presidents with their predecessors.

Those ratings have been used not only as snapshots of presidential popularity but also as data points in academic research on everything from electoral outcomes to midterm effects.

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