Congress has ended the government shutdown, but investors aren't getting the typical higher prices for the stock market that happen after a resumption. Here's how President Donald Trump's approval rating has changed since the government shutdown ended.
• SPY is demonstrating strength. Follow the breaking news here.
Trump's Approval Rating
After the end of a record-breaking long government shutdown, voters show higher approval ratings for Trump.
A new Morning Consult poll shows Trump with an approval rating of 46%, up from 44% in the previous poll. Trump's disapproval rating sits at 52%, down from 54% in the previous poll. The new figures have returned to where they were before the government shutdown.
The last poll, conducted during the shutdown, saw Trump hit a record low for approval rating since his second presidential term began in January 2025.
Trump's net approval rises four points in the latest poll, showing the impact on his approval since the end of the government shutdown.
While the government shutdown was the top news item for voters in the previous poll, the Jeffrey Epstein files are now the most talked-about news story for voters, with health care also remaining a key topic.
On the subject of health care, voters are more likely to trust Congressional Democrats over Congressional Republicans by a vote of 50% to 37%, a 13-point advantage for the party opposite the president.
While voters give Trump higher approval ratings than during the government shutdown, they still don't believe the country is headed in the right direction. Only 37% of voters believe the country is headed in the right direction, down from the average of 43% during Trump's second term.
Sixty-nine percent of Republicans believe the country is headed in the right direction, down from 77% earlier in Trump's second term, showing that his own party may have less trust in some key issues.
The economy, higher costs and rising health care costs remain key issues for voters.
Stock Market Down
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY), which tracks the S&P 500, hit new all-time highs of $689.70 on Oct. 29, in the middle of the government shutdown. The ETF fell around 3.5% from its all-time highs and the time the Morning Consult poll was conducted.
Stocks are down around 4.5% at the time of writing compared to the closing price of $683.38, the last day of the government shutdown.
Trump's low mark for approval ratings in his second term came in contrast with the stock market at record highs. Trump's approval ratings are now up, despite the stock market, one of the key gauges the White House and Trump have used to boast about economic health, falling.
After the last government shutdown in 2018/2019, the stock market was highly volatile before trading significantly higher in 2019 and posting one of the best years investors had seen in some time, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust up 31.2% for the whole year.
This is currently the best return for the ETF over the past 11 years, indicating that the longest government shutdown at the time was only a minor factor in 2019.
With 2025 coming to a close, investors turn to 2026 to see what kind of return the market can produce in Trump's second year of his second term and a year following the longest government shutdown in history.
The SPY is up 11.6% year-to-date in 2025, which currently trails the gains of 20% or more in each of the last two years.
If the year ended today, this would be the second-worst return for a year with Trump in the presidency, beating only the -4.6% return in 2018.
Here are the returns for the SPY in years during Trump's first term:
- 2017: +21.7%
- 2018: -4.6%
- 2019: +31.2%
- 2020: +18.4%
With nearly one month to go, it looks like 2025 will end up being one of the worst years under Trump for the overall stock market.
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