Washington DC - President Donald Trump on Wednesday admitted that his approval ratings are in the gutter, but insisted he has actually become more popular among so-called "smart people."

In an unusual move for the president, Trump used a speech to business leaders and officials from Saudi Arabia to admit that his approval ratings have dropped because he's taking heat from his base.

"So my poll numbers just went down, but with smart people they've gone way up," he told assembled officials during a speech at the US-Saudi Investment Forum.

A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll this week found that Trump's approval rating has fallen to 38%, the lowest point since he returned to office in January.

In particular, polling found that he'd lost significant support over his handling of the cost of living crisis as well as his alleged association with notorious child rapist and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump, however, claimed his approval ratings had taken a dip because conservatives disagreed with his stance on skilled foreign workers.

"I always take a little heat from my people, the people that love me and the people that I love," Trump said. "They happen to be toward the right of center, toward the right. Sometimes they're way right."

"They're unbelievable patriots, but they just don't understand our people have to be taught... This is something they've never done."

Trump went on to blame cost of living struggles on the Biden administration, claiming that inflation will soon come down due to his leadership.

"We're also making incredible strides to make America affordable," Trump said. "They had the worst inflation in history. They had the highest prices in history. The country was going to hell."