MINNEAPOLIS — President Donald Trump is losing ground in Minnesota, where a new Star Tribune/KARE 11 Minnesota Poll finds mounting disapproval of his presidency amid frustration over the economy and the war in Iran.

Nearly six in 10 likely voters — 58% — disapprove of Trump’s job performance, up from 56% in June and 54% a year ago. The changes fall within the poll’s margin of error, but the latest findings show the depth of his unpopularity in a state that has rejected him in three consecutive presidential elections.

Even among those who remain loyal to Trump, there are signs of unease.

David Jones, a Republican from Belle Plaine, voted for Trump in 2024 and has found much to like about his second term. He supports the president’s efforts to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States and his proposals to eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay. He backed the decision to go to war with Iran, too.

But months into the conflict, Jones is growing impatient.

“I support what he did in that they can’t have nukes,” he said. “But it’s got to get ended somehow.”

He worries about the war dragging on, about gasoline and diesel prices, and about what voters will make of it all when they cast their ballots next month.

“When people drive to the polls, they have to drive by gas stations,” Jones said, “and I don’t think it’s going to be good for Republicans this November.”

The Minnesota Poll’s findings are based on interviews with 800 Minnesota likely voters conducted from Oct. 5 to 7, 2026. The poll’s margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The poll suggests Jones is hardly alone in questioning the war, even if most Republicans remain behind the president. Sixty-two percent of Minnesota voters oppose the conflict with Iran, compared with 32% who support it. Opposition is particularly pronounced among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, at 96%, but extends to 62% of independents and 21% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters.

The war is not Trump’s only liability. Sixty percent of voters disapprove of his handling of economic issues, compared with a third who approve. Nearly half describe the country’s economic conditions as poor, while a quarter call them fair.

And three-quarters of voters say increased prices have caused financial stress in their households, including 27% who describe that stress as major.

The economic dissatisfaction cuts into Trump’s own coalition. Among voters who supported him in 2024, 15% now disapprove of his handling of the economy, and 68% report at least some financial stress from rising prices. Among independents, 61% disapprove of his economic performance.

Those figures help explain why a president who returned to office promising economic relief faces a difficult political environment less than a month before the midterm elections. They do not, however, mean that all voters experiencing financial strain blame Trump for it. Most Republican voters continue to approve of his presidency, even as many report feeling the effects of higher prices.

For Tim Knight, a programmer, military veteran and independent voter, the war is objectionable for reasons that have little to do with the price of gasoline.

“I definitely do not support the Iran war,” Knight said. “We got to get out of these endless wars.”

Knight said he believes the United States entered the conflict under false pretenses and sees little benefit to Americans in continuing it. Rising fuel prices, he argued, are a consequence of the war, not the principal reason to oppose it.

He also worries about the damage to America’s relationships abroad, which he believes could take decades to repair.

Knight plans to vote for Democrats in November, though not without reservations about the party.

“This is a necessary election where again I’m having to hold my nose and vote for some Democrats who I don’t care for,” he said.

Tanni Weller, a voter from White Bear Township, has little patience for the president or the war.

“It’s everything,” she said when asked what troubled her about Trump. “It’s the way he looks, the way he talks, the way he treats people, the [stuff] he’s put this country through.”

Weller said she knew the family of a service member killed in the conflict, a loss that has made the war’s human cost painfully personal.

“We shouldn’t be there,” she said.

Yet the president’s support among Republicans remains substantial. Eighty-eight percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters approve of his overall job performance, compared with 9% who disapprove. Among those who voted for Trump in 2024, 83% still approve.

Chad Younkin, a Republican from Oak Grove who voted for Trump in 2024, sees the president’s policies as an effort to reverse decades of misplaced national priorities.

He recalled growing up in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, when he said life felt more secure and the nation’s priorities seemed clearer.

“I think everything that he’s doing is pro-America,” Younkin said.

Younkin acknowledged that Trump’s manner can be abrasive, but he distinguished the president’s presentation from what he believes Trump is trying to accomplish.

“He is not the greatest messenger,” Younkin said. “But I 100% trust the idea that he is trying to make America great again.”

For James Johnson, an independent from Minneapolis who voted for Kamala Harris in 2024, Trump’s conduct is inseparable from his politics.

Johnson said he is troubled by what he considers the president’s disregard for facts and by the willingness of his supporters to accept his claims without questioning them. He also opposes the war in Iran, which he does not believe was justified.

But Johnson’s dissatisfaction extends to Democrats. He said he increasingly identifies as an independent because neither party has fully earned his confidence.

He remembers a politics concerned with solving problems, he said, rather than creating them.

©2026 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.