Americans like former President George W. Bush more than President Donald Trump, according to a survey released Tuesday.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.
The Context
The poll, conducted by Gallup, was released as the Trump administration pushes to follow through on a sweeping overhaul of the administrative state by testing the limits of executive power.
It also comes on the heels of a CBS News/YouGov poll that found 53 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing, a figure landing among the highest approval ratings he has received in his political career. Seventy percent of respondents said they believe Trump is delivering on his 2024 campaign promises.
Since his second inauguration just over three weeks ago, Trump has ramped up efforts to deport migrants; threatened to impose tariffs on U.S. allies like Mexico and Canada; moved to fire hundreds of employees across the federal government while pushing remaining workers to resign en masse; tried to cut billions in funding for health research; gutted the U.S. Agency for International Development, potentially imperiling hundreds of billions of dollars in humanitarian aid; and pushed to end birthright citizenship for some children born in the U.S.
What To Know
Gallup conducted its survey from January 21 to January 27, the week after Trump took office. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
According to the poll, 52 percent of Americans view Bush favorably, compared to 48 percent for Trump.
Former President Barack Obama is the most popular living president, with a 59 percent favorability rating. Bush ranks second, while Trump and former President Bill Clinton are tied for third at 48 percent. Former President Joe Biden has the lowest rating, trailing the field at 39 percent.
Thirty-four percent of Americans view Bush unfavorably, compared to 50 percent for Trump.
Bush, who left office in 2009, was a frequent target of Trump’s on the 2016 and 2020 campaign trails.
Trump lambasted the Bush administration’s foreign policy vis-a-vis the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 7,000 U.S. service members died in post-9/11 war zones including Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the Watson Institute for International & Public Affairs at Brown University.
Trump also skewered Bush in September 2021, after the former president warned of the rising threat of domestic terrorism and “violent extremists at home” during remarks on the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
“So interesting to watch former President Bush, who is responsible for getting us into the quicksand of the Middle East (and then not winning!), as he lectures us that terrorists on the ‘right’ are a bigger problem than those from foreign countries that hate America, and that are pouring into our Country right now,” Trump said in a statement at the time.
“If that is so, why was he willing to spend trillions of dollars and be responsible for the death of perhaps millions of people?” Trump said. “He shouldn’t be lecturing us about anything. The World Trade Center came down during his watch. Bush led a failed and uninspiring presidency. He shouldn’t be lecturing anybody!”
What People Are Saying
Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary, shared the CBS/YouGov poll on X and told Fox News in an interview: “”President Trump is restoring common sense…not just to the United States of America but to the entire world.”
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