WASHINGTON, D.C. -- At 47%, President Donald Trump's initial job approval rating for his second term is similar to the inaugural 45% reading during his first term, again placing him below all other elected presidents dating back to 1953. Trump remains the only elected president with sub-50% initial approval ratings, and his latest disapproval rating (48%) is three percentage points higher than in 2017, marking a new high for inaugural ratings.
Trump’s current job approval rating, from Gallup’s Jan. 21-27 poll, is not significantly different from the 51% readings earned by George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan in the early days of their presidencies. However, initial evaluations of Trump differ in that Americans are much more likely to disapprove of his performance rather than have no opinion, as was the case for the elder Bush and Reagan.
John Kennedy had the highest inaugural approval rating, at 72%, followed closely by Dwight Eisenhower and Barack Obama, who both had strong starts with 68% readings. Jimmy Carter received a 66% approval rating, while Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and George W. Bush had ratings between 57% and 59%.
Although Trump’s latest rating is weak compared with past presidents’ initial readings, it is among the best he has received as president. His personal high point during his first term was 49%, which he earned on several occasions in 2020.
Trump averaged 41% approval in his first term and is the only president not to receive a job rating of 50% or higher at any point in his presidency. He left office in January 2021 with the lowest rating of his presidency, 34%, after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump’s Approval Rating Remains Politically Polarized
As was the case during his first term, Trump’s current job rating is sharply polarized, with 91% of Republicans approving, compared with just 6% of Democrats and 46% of independents. This 85-point gap between Republicans and Democrats is similar to the average 81-point gap throughout his first term. It is also close to Biden’s 87-point gap at the beginning of his term in 2021.
At the start of Trump’s first term, partisans’ approval ratings were separated by 76 points (90% of Republicans vs. 14% of Democrats) -- whereas prior to that, the gaps in partisans’ initial approval ratings of new presidents ranged from 24 to 56 points.
Americans Split Over Trump’s Speed in Addressing Major U.S. Problems
Trump began his second presidential term by signing a record number of executive actions targeting a wide range of policy areas, including immigration, defense and the military, foreign policy, the environment, and government efficiency. The poll was completed before the Trump administration initiated a pause on trillions of dollars of grants, loans and other federal financial assistance, which was later temporarily blocked by a federal judge and then rescinded by Trump.
At the time of the poll, Americans were divided in their views of Trump’s pace in addressing the major problems facing the country today, with 40% saying it is “about right,” 37% saying it is “too fast” and 14% saying it is “not fast enough.”
The broad majority of Republicans (83%) think his pace is about right, while 61% of Democrats think he is moving too fast. Independents’ views are similar to the national average.
Although Trump has signed more executive actions this year than he did in the first 100 days of his first term, Americans were more inclined in 2017 than they are now to say he was moving too fast (47%). Republicans are now seven points more likely than they were in 2017 to say Trump’s actions are about right. Democrats are now less likely to say Trump is moving too fast (-12 points) and more likely to think he is not moving fast enough (+11 points).
Gallup asked this question about just one other president’s pace -- Obama in 2009. At that time, a majority of Americans, 63%, said it was about right. The rest were more likely to say Obama was acting too fast (22%) than not fast enough (10%).
Bottom Line
Most presidents have experienced a “honeymoon period,” with strong job approval ratings in the initial months of their presidencies that then fade as time passes. Trump did not enjoy such a traditional honeymoon period in his first term, as the 45% of Americans who expressed approval of him in the initial reading in 2017 was not much higher than his 41% term average. Initial approval ratings for all elected presidents since Eisenhower, not including Trump, averaged 61%.
Trump is starting his second term just like the first, with Americans evenly divided over how well he is doing his job. Slightly more now have an opinion one way or the other -- but his current 47% approval rating is still lower than initial readings for all other modern presidents, aside from his first rating in 2017.
Trump’s fellow Republicans overwhelmingly approve of the job he is doing so far and think his speed in addressing major problems in the U.S. has been about right. His support from Republicans and independents is slightly higher than what it was in 2017, while Democrats’ support is even lower.
While there is no single way to define a presidential honeymoon, Trump’s approval ratings in the coming months will test one common standard -- if his ratings go down for a sustained period, his initial ratings will look elevated by comparison. Presidential honeymoons are often defined retrospectively in this way.
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Explore President Trump’s approval ratings and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.
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