President Donald Trump‘s approval rating has soared since his inauguration last week, according to new polling.
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Republicans are experiencing a surge in popularity nationwide, with Trump improving his margins in all but two states in last year’s presidential election against then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The GOP now holds control of the Senate and the House, positioning Trump to advance his agenda with fewer obstacles than during his first term.
Polls have also shown that Trump has higher approval ratings among groups that don’t traditionally vote Republican, indicating a realignment in voter demographics that could have lasting implications for future elections.
What To Know
Quinnipiac University’s poll from December 15, conducted among 924 registered U.S. voters, showed that Trump’s favorability score was -9, with 41 percent having an unfavorable view of him, compared to 50 percent who said their view of Trump was favorable.
But since then, Trump’s favorability rating has shot up to +2 in Quinnipiac’s latest poll, conducted among 1,019 registered U.S. voters between January 23 and 27. In that poll, 47 percent of respondents had a favorable view of him, while 45 percent had an unfavorable view.
Trump has also seen an increase in his approval ratings in other polls conducted by YouGov and The Economist, Echelon Insights, and McLaughlin and Associates, albeit a smaller rise.
YouGov and The Economist gave Trump an overall favorability rating of -6 in their poll conducted among 1,425 registered voters between January 12 and 14. But weeks later, in their poll conducted between January 26 and 28, Trump’s approval rating rose to +2.
Echelon’s poll from December 9 to 12 put Trump on -2, with 50 percent saying they had an unfavorable view of him and 48 percent saying the opposite. Now, after their poll conducted between January 22 and 27, Trump has a favorability rating of +2. And according to polling by McLaughlin and Associates, Trump’s approval rating has increased by 3 points since December 16, when it was +3. The latest poll, conducted between January 22 and 27, put his approval rating at the same number.
It comes as Trump’s favorability has seen historic highs recently, according to aggregate polling FiveThirtyEight’s tracker. It currently stands at -0.7 up from -20 in January 2021 when his first term ended.
However, while some polls may suggest that Trump’s popularity is on the rise, others tell a different story. According to polling by Morning Consult last week, Trump’s favorability rating remains at +3, the same as where it was in their poll conducted between December 6 and 8.
And according to the latest Gallup poll, conducted between January 21 to 27, Trump remains one of the least popular U.S. presidents in history, with the lowest approval rating of all elected presidents, dating back to 1953, and he remains the only elected president with sub-50 percent initial approval ratings.
Nonetheless, polls suggest that Trump’s surging popularity may be driven by support for his agenda on immigration. Trump made immigration a central theme of his successful presidential campaign and has since taken steps to rebuild a wall across the southern border and to hold the largest mass deportation event in history.
According to Quinnipiac’s latest poll, a majority of voters (60 percent) approve of sending U.S. troops to the southern border with Mexico to enforce border security, while 36 percent disapprove. The poll also showed that more than 4 in 10 voters (44 percent) support deporting all undocumented immigrants and sending them back to their home countries, while 39 percent only support deporting immigrants convicted of violent crimes, and 6 percent oppose both scenarios, with 10 percent not offering an opinion.
Meanwhile, a poll by AtlasIntel conducted between January 21 and 23, showed 69 percent of Black voters approve of Trump’s job performance, compared to 50 percent of white voters, which could be explained by Black voter’s support for Trump’s immigration policies. According to the poll, 72 percent of Black voters see immigration as a key challenge for the U.S., ranking it higher than any other issue.
What People Are Saying
Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement about support for President Trump’s immigration policies: “The huge deployment of boots on the ground is not to a dicey, far away war theater, but to the American border. And a majority of voters are just fine with that.”
Laura Smith, a presidential historian at Oxford University, previously told Newsweek: “Modern presidents normally begin their term with a so-called ‘honeymoon’ period, enabling them to be particularly active in their first 100 days.”
She added: “…Trump has effectively convinced people to vote against their self interest, including their economic interest, and soon rhetoric will turn into reality and polls will change. I anticipate this is a transient sentiment, rather than a sea change in American politics, or even a reflection of support in his agenda. After all, as a candidate Trump has never run on clear policies, focusing more on rhetoric and character. Higher polls could reflect an appreciation of his version of strong leadership but consequences, expected and unexpected, will be forthcoming.”
Andrew David, senior lecturer in social science at Boston University, previously told Newsweek: “The accepted wisdom about modern presidential politics is that, really, a president has something like 12 to 18 months to really get their agenda complete. After that, it’s on to the midterms. As a lame duck upon entering office, those midterms might also see the soft start to the 2028 race and a further challenge to Trump’s authority, sway and power. As with so much about Trump, this is pretty uncharted territory and a unique set of challenges for a president.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen whether Trump’s current approval rating will hold.
Since taking office, he has signed over 100 executive orders focusing on immigration, rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and environmental protections, and imposing higher tariffs on countries like China, Mexico, and Canada.
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