President Donald Trump‘s approval rating has turned negative for the first time in a poll conducted by a Republican-leaning firm.
Why It Matters
A shift in Trump’s numbers could influence support from Republican lawmakers, affect his ability to push through his agenda and shape the political landscape, heading into the midterm election cycle.
What to Know
According to Rasmussen’s daily poll tracker, as of April 4, Trump’s approval rating sits at 49 percent, while 50 percent disapprove of his job performance.
That is the first time in Trump’s second term that Rasmussen’s tracker has shown the president with a net negative approval rating. On April 3, Trump’s approval rating dipped below 50 points for the first time. Rasmussen is generally considered as a Republican-leaning pollster.
Many polls have shown the president’s approval rating on the decline in recent days.
Newsweek’s average of the 10 most recently published polls shows that Trump’s approval rating stands at 47 percent, while 49 percent disapprove. That is a decline from early March, when Trump’s approval rating was at 49 percent, while 47 percent disapproved.
The latest poll by RMG Research, another Republican-leaning pollster, has also shown a decrease in Trump’s approval rating. The most recent poll, conducted between March 26 and April 3 among 3,000 registered voters, showed that Trump’s approval rating stands at 51 percent, while 47 percent disapprove. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 points.
In a poll conducted in March by RMG, 52 percent had approved and 45 percent had disapproved.
The same trend was apparent in the most recent TIPP Insights poll, conducted between March 26 and 28 among 1,452 respondents, which showed that 44 percent approve of Trump, while 45 percent disapprove, giving him a net approval rating of -1. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 points.
A previous TIPP Insights poll from January showed that Trump’s net approval rating stood at +5 points, with 46 percent approving and 41 percent disapproving.
A poll conducted by Marquette University Law School between March 17 and March 27 among 1,021 adults also showed that Trump’s approval rating had dropped to 46 percent, while 54 percent said they disapproved. In January, 48 percent approved and 52 percent disapproved. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
And according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted between March 31 and April 2 among 1,486 respondents, Trump’s approval rating fell to 43 percent, the lowest since his return to office. Overall, the president was down 2 percentage points from a poll conducted March 21 to 23, and 4 points below the 47 percent approval he had shortly after taking office on January 20. The poll had a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.
The drop in Trump’s approval rating has been mirrored by growing dissatisfaction with how he is handling the economy.
Fears over the state of the economy sprouted in recent weeks in reaction to a number of Trump economic policies, including his new program of tariffs. Goldman Sachs previously estimated tariffs could push up inflation by 1 percent while squeezing U.S. companies’ profits.
The Marquette poll showed that 58 percent of adults think tariffs hurt the U.S. economy. The same amount think Trump’s policies will increase inflation.
How Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Compares to Joe Biden’s
Trump’s 47 percent approval rating is lower than former President Joe Biden‘s popularity at the same point in his presidency on April 5, 2021, when he stood at 54 percent, with a disapproval rating of 42 percent, according to RealClearPolitics.
Polls released in the days after Trump’s inauguration showed his popularity at an all-time high. However, he was still the least popular president in recent times.
According to Gallup’s first poll of Trump’s second term, conducted between January 21 and 27, his initial approval rating was 47 percent. The pollster said this figure made him less popular than any president since 1953 at the start of a term and the only one to begin with a sub-50 percent approval rating. Gallup said Biden started his first term with a 57 percent approval rating.
How Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Compares to First Term
The RealClearPolitics tracker shows that on April 5, 2017, Trump’s approval rating was 40 percent, while his disapproval rating was 53 percent, giving him a net approval rating of -13 points, making Trump more popular now than at the same point in his first term.
What Happens Next
Trump’s approval rating will likely fluctuate in the coming weeks, depending on the outcome of key events, including critical negotiations on the Russia-Ukraine war and the growing tariff battles.
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