Three weeks into Donald Trump’s second term, the results are in — America dislikes its president but thinks he’s doing a good job overall.
According to polling analysis site FiveThirtyEight, the president holds a 49% approval rating versus a 45% disapproval rating, a record high for his decade-long political career.
Experts attribute these numbers to the usual honeymoon period of a president’s term, the first 100 days where they see a surge in popularity, and his approach to issues like immigration control and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
“He’s vigorous and he’s doing things and, so, people kind of like that,” said Dr. Michael A. Bailey, a political science and polling expert at Georgetown University. “But is it going to be two months, six months or two years when [his policies] will cause good results?”
Much remains to be seen, considering these results only reflect Trump’s first three weeks in office. Though his approval ratings are a personal best, the president’s favorability numbers are underwater, coming in at 46.5% favorable as compared to 48% unfavorable. Factors like the economy, the job market and national crises could further influence which way his ratings go in later polls.
“If inflation kicks in, unemployment kicks in or the stock market collapses … that’s really the gravitational mass of public opinion,” said Bailey.” The second thing would be some crisis or bad decision … the plane crash … the bird flu … if there’s a cause and effect where he’s viewed as responsible for some great success or some great failure.”
While the narrow margin in poll results reveals a deeply partisan public, respondents agreed on one key issue — increasing inflation.
Many feel disillusioned after Trump’s campaign promises of tackling rising costs. A CBS News and YouGov poll showed that 66% of Americans believe the administration is not focusing enough on “lowering the prices of goods and services.”
“His favorability is gonna go down because he isn’t making egg prices 99 cents like they were in the 1990s. They’re never gonna be 99 cents,” shared Ada Hopkins, 19, a George Washington University economics student who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris last election. “You can take what he says seriously, but you can’t take it literally.”
Already on his final term, the president’s approval and favorability ratings matter little regarding reelection, but with midterm elections slated for next year, Trump faces losing a Republican-controlled Congress.
Bailey shares that while this should concern the president as midterm elections historically do not favor the incumbent, it won’t.
“Trump’s politics are that he is unhappy and he is not feeling he’s succeeding if [the minority] like him,” he said. “His politics are that 40% of people better hate him as much as they’ve hated any political figure in their life.”
