Trump least popular newly elected president since Second World War

Yahoo

29-01-2025

Donald Trump is the least popular newly elected president since the Second World War, with the exception of himself in 2017, according to a set of polls.
Since taking office on Jan 20, the Republican has moved quickly to impose restrictions on immigration and scale back the size of the US government, efforts that have generally gone down well with the public.
However, Americans have a dim view of some of Mr Trump's other executive orders, including his attempt to do away with so-called birthright citizenship and his decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico.
According to poll aggregator 538, Mr Trump's initial approval rating is at +7 percentage points, lower than any other newly elected president since the Second World War.
Only Mr Trump himself experienced a lower early approval rating, of +3.2, in 2017.
By comparison, his predecessor Joe Biden had an approval rating of +21.8 in 2021, while Barack Obama enjoyed a score of +46.9 in 2009. John F Kennedy's approval rating sat at +66 following his election in 1960.
Kyle Kondik, an analyst with the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said: 'While it does seem Trump is getting a honeymoon to some extent, his numbers are still not impressive by historical standards.'
During Mr Trump's first term, his approval rating reached a high of 49 per cent in his first weeks in office.
However, he closed out his stay in the White House with a 34 per cent approval rating, following the Jan 6 2021 assault on the US Capitol by some of his supporters.
This time around, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 45 per cent of Americans approve of Mr Trump's performance as president, down slightly from 47 per cent in a poll conducted on Jan 20 and 21.
Mr Kondik said it may be too early to evaluate whether Mr Trump is squandering his political capital by focusing on issues where he is not aligned with the public.
However, the poll shows that many of his early actions have been greeted warmly only by his hardcore base of supporters.
Voters more generally remain deeply concerned about the high price of food, housing and other necessities, the survey found.
Most Americans opposed ending the nation's longstanding practice of granting citizenship to children born in the US even if neither parent has legal immigration status, the poll found.
Some 59 per cent of respondents – including 89 per cent of Democrats and 36 per cent of Republicans – said they were against ending birthright citizenship.
A federal judge last week temporarily blocked the Trump administration from making the changes, but the White House has vowed to fight on.
Meanwhile, 70 per cent of respondents said they opposed renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, an action Mr Trump ordered on his first day in office. Only 25 per cent of respondents supported the idea, with the rest unsure.
Some 59 per cent of those surveyed, including 30 per cent of Republican voters, also said they were against Mr Trump's move to end federal efforts to promote the hiring of women and racial minorities.
When asked specifically about Mr Trump's order to close all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices, the respondents were more evenly divided, with 51 per cent opposed and 44 per cent in favour, largely along partisan lines.
Credit: @Caolanmcaree / X
Support for expanding fossil fuel drilling – another early policy change in the new administration – was highly concentrated in Mr Trump's party, with 76 per cent of Republicans backing the easing of drilling restrictions and 81 per cent of Democrats opposing it.
Some 59 per cent of respondents said they were against the US pulling out of the Paris climate accords.
Public views also split along partisan lines on billionaire businessman Elon Musk, one of Mr Trump's most prominent allies. While 75 per cent of Republicans in the survey said they had a favourable view of Musk, 90 per cent of Democrats had an unfavourable view.
One possible source of concern for Mr Trump's political team could be the still overwhelming sense that rising prices remain untamed. Half of the poll respondents said the country was on the wrong track when it came to the cost of living, compared with 25 per cent who said it was moving in the right direction. The rest said they were not sure or did not answer the question.
There were positive indicators for Mr Trump as well. Some 48 per cent said they approved of Mr Trump's approach to immigration, compared with 41 per cent who disapproved.
The poll also showed Mr Trump as having significant levels of support for the hiring freeze he ordered at most federal offices, with 49 per cent backing the policy, including 80 per cent of Republicans and 43 per cent of Democrats.
Mr Kondik said Mr Trump ultimately may be judged by the public on big-picture issues such as the economy and immigration, and that opposition to smaller-scale policy measures might not be too damaging.
'Trump was elected in large part because voters tended to side with him on the economy and immigration. To the extent he is viewed as doing positive things on that, it's probably good for him,' he said.
But, Mr Kondik added, if voters in the coming months perceive Mr Trump's restrictions on immigration or his government downsizing efforts to be overly harsh, that could change.
Mr Trump will not be on the ballot again, but any backlash could be felt by congressional Republicans running for re-election next year, he said.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was conducted online from Jan 24 to 26, surveyed 1,034 adults nationwide.
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