Six in ten Americans believe that President Donald Trump has grown “erratic with age,” a new poll found.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll, released Tuesday, revealed that 61% of U.S. adults would describe Trump as becoming erratic as he ages, including 89% of Democrats, 64% of independents and 30% of Republicans.
While 81% of Republicans view the president, 79, as sharp and able to deal with challenges, 19% of Democrats think the opposite of him, down from 29% in September 2023, according to the poll. The share of political independents who believe Trump has held onto his mental acuity has also dropped to 36% from 53% over the same period.
Overall, Trump received a 40% approval rating on his performance as president in the poll, which is an increase of 2 percentage points from earlier this month.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Reuters that the poll’s findings were examples of “fake and desperate narratives.” He added that the president’s “sharpness, unmatched energy, and historic accessibility” distinguishes him from his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.
Though Americans express doubt about the behavior of Trump, who was the oldest person ever elected to the presidency at age 78, they also agree that political leadership in Washington is too old. According to Reuters, the average age in the House is 58, compared to about 64 in the Senate.
The poll found that 79% of respondents think that “elected officials in Washington, D.C., are too old to represent most Americans.” Democrats were slightly more likely to demand that younger politicians hold elected office — with 58% saying Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is 75, is too old to work in government.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll, which concluded on Monday after surveying 4,638 U.S. adults nationwide over six days, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
