Donald Trump Has Never Been This Popular: Polls

Donald Trump's favorability rating has reached a personal best, according to new polling, but he still remains the least popular president since at least 1953.

Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email.

Why It Matters

It is common for a president's favorability rating to improve at the start of their term, as newly elected leaders often benefit from a "honeymoon period." Past presidents have typically enjoyed strong positive ratings during this time, meaning more people have a favorable view of them than an unfavorable one, which has not been the case for Trump. Despite this, he is currently more popular than at any other point in his political career, following a decisive victory in the election where Republicans secured control of both the House and Senate.

What To Know

Trump has the highest favorability rating he's ever had, according to a tracker published by Real Clear Politics.

The tracker indicates that Trump's favorability rating currently averages +1.2 points, with 48.9 percent of respondents viewing him favorably and 47.7 percent holding an unfavorable opinion.

It is only the second time Trump has had a positive rating, the tracker shows, with the first occurring between December 7 and 20 when his rating went above +1.

Before that, his favorability rating had always been in the negatives, meaning more people had an unfavorable view of him than saw him positively, with his nadir being -35.2 in April 2016.

FiveThirtyEight's favorability tracker also indicates that Trump's popularity is peaking. Though he has still never had a positive favorability rating, with his average currently standing at -0.6. That is up from a low of -18 in February 2021.

Individual polls have also shown Trump's favorability rate growing. For example, Quinnipiac University's survey from December 16, conducted among 924 registered U.S. voters, gave Trump a favorability score of -9. In that poll, 41 percent said they had an unfavorable view of the then-president elect, compared to 50 percent who said their view of him was positive.

Since then, Trump's favorability rating has shot up significantly, climbing to a +2 score in Quinnipiac's latest poll, conducted among 1,019 registered U.S. voters between January 23 and 27. In that poll, 47 percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of the president, while 45 percent said the opposite.

Trump has also seen his favorability ratings climb in a number of other polls, including those conducted by YouGov and The Economist, Echelon Insights and McLaughlin and Associates, though these were not as dramatic as the Quinnipiac flip.

A number of polls show Trump's star rising after reassuming the presidency, with polling released Thursday by Gallup, showing that 47 percent of respondents support Trump's term so far.

That rating is lower than all other elected presidents since 1953 and the only one with sub-50-percent initial approval ratings. Former President Joe Biden carried a 57 percent approval rating after his first week in office.

What People Are Saying

Andrew David, senior lecturer in social science at Boston University, previously told Newsweek: "I'm not necessarily surprised by Trump's numbers. These are impressive for him personally for sure. But this is the point in his administration when he should have numbers along these lines. Considering the scope of his November victory, it would be shocking if there was a major regress in his support.

"That said, while these are great numbers for Trump, they're still low by almost any measure of the presidency. In fact, the only person who started with lower numbers was...Donald Trump [in 2016]."

Laura Smith, a presidential historian at Oxford University, previously told Newsweek: "Modern presidents normally begin their term with a so-called 'honeymoon' period, enabling them to be particularly active in their first 100 days."

What Happens Next

It remains to be seen whether Trump's favorability ratings will continue to remain above water.

Since taking office, he has signed over 100 executive orders focusing on immigration, rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and environmental protections, and imposing higher tariffs on countries like China, Mexico, and Canada.

Polls indicate that voters have a positive view of his immigration agenda. A New York Times/Ipsos survey, carried out from January 2 to 10, found 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat support his mass deportations plan. Eighty-eight percent backed "deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records." Large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agreed that the immigration system is broken.