Trump's approval ratings: What the latest poll numbers show
Published in Political News
Opinion polling shows President Donald Trump still has his head above water, but by a slimmer margin than he did upon taking office a week ago.
Trump’s approval rating is 49% and his disapproval rating is 43%, according to FiveThirtyEight’s average of polls.
Meanwhile, the RealClearPolitics polling average shows the president’s approval and disapproval ratings tied at 48%.
Some of the top takeaways from a recent Morning Consult poll show Trump beginning his second term more popular than his first term. Bringing down costs remains a top priority for voters; imposing tariffs is among the lowest. Trump also benefits from voters trusting him to handle immigration, according to the poll.
However, a new Ipsos/Reuters poll this week revealed mixed approval for Trump’s recent executive orders. For example, a majority of Americans oppose his pardons of Jan. 6 protestors, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and ending birthright citizenship, according to the poll. Downsizing the federal government and easing restrictions on drilling received strong support.
In the Ipsos/Reuters poll, 45% of Americans approve of Trump’s performance, a slight decrease from 47% in a Jan. 20-21 poll. Some 46% disapproved, marking an increase from 39% in the previous poll. The poll’s margin of error was 4 percentage points.
According to a Rasmussen poll released Tuesday, Trump’s approval rating dipped to 52% — down 4 percentage points from the 56% it stood at last Thursday. The president’s disapproval rating also rose 4 percentage points during that time, from 40% to 44%.
The percentage of Americans who strongly approve of Trump decreased from 40% to 38%, while the percentage of those who strongly disapprove climbed from 34% to 36%.
The poll continues a recent trend of slight decreases in a new president’s approval rating right out of the gate. This trend is likely a public response to the controversial executive orders presidents often sign upon taking office; in Trump’s case, these orders cracked down on illegal immigration, rolled back federal diversity initiatives and pardoned Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioters.
During Trump’s first term, his approval rating fell from 56% to 53% between Jan. 20 and Jan. 30, 2017. President Barack Obama experienced a similar drop, as his approval rating fell from 67% to 60% between Jan. 20 and Jan. 26, 2009.
However, President Joe Biden actually saw a slight increase in his approval rating — from 48% to 50% — between Jan. 22 and Jan. 29, 2021.
Overall, the first few months of a president’s term are often described as a “honeymoon” period, during which he generally enjoys high approval ratings.
This trend was most evident during Biden’s term, as the 46th president was broadly popular during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout during the spring of 2021. But following the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan that summer and record inflation setting in, Biden’s approval rating remained clearly underwater for the rest of his time in office.
The Rasmussen poll surveyed 300 likely American voters each evening over the last five days and reported the average, meaning 1,500 people were accounted for by the poll. It was conducted online and has a 2.5% margin of error.
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