Donald Trump has famously said that ratings are the only thing that matters—at least, to him. If so, things are going even worse for the president than we thought. Just last week, polls from Gallup, Reuters/Ipsos, and Fox News placed Trump’s 100-day approval ratings below those of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush. But the latest polls point out that we need to look further into history for another president who’s alienated constituents that fast. Way, way back.
According to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll of 2,464 US adults conducted between April 18-22, only 39% of Americans answered “yes” when asked, “Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president?” That’s a sharp drop from February, when 45% said “yes” when asked the same question.
A CNN poll conducted by SSRS and released on Sunday, ranks Trump slightly higher, at 41%. And yet, notes the outlet, it’s still “the lowest for any newly elected president at 100 days dating back at least to Dwight Eisenhower – including Trump’s own first term.”
Today’s news reflects a downward trend we’ve been seeing since March, when only 4 out of 10 US adults approved of Trump’s performance in office, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. By April 1, it was clear the honeymoon was over, with Americans taking issue with shenanigans including threats to Greenland, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, and whatever shenanigans wealth hoarder, alleged deadbeat dad, and Trump string-puller Elon Musk is up to and or tweeting that day.
And that was before Trump’s tariff announcement, which sent markets into freefall, hollowing out retirement plans of hard-working citizens in the process.
According to The Washington Post, presidents always experience a rating decline at some point in their term, but it’s rare to see a drop so soon after taking the role. CNN’s poll says Trump has lost most ground with women (who approve Trump at a rate of 36%), and Hispanic Americans (only 28% of whom say they approve his work).
Last week’s poll numbers prompted Trump to lash out on Truth Social with claims that Fox News should fire its “Hating, Fake Pollster.” As of publication, he has not responded publicly to the latest stats, but an interview from 2023 might shed some light on how these new rankings make him feel. “If you have ratings, you can be the meanest, most horrible human being in the world,” he said then.
“There’s only one thing that matters: ratings. You can be nice, or you can be mean, you can be evil, you can be horrible. You can be crude or elegant. There’s only one thing that matters, and that’s ratings.”
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