Mon Feb 24 12:20:00 UTC 2025: **Trump’s Job Approval Remains Low in Second Term Start**
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Gallup) — President Trump’s job approval rating sits at 45% one month into his second term, a figure mirroring his 47% approval rating at the start of his first term. This makes him the lowest-rated new president since 1953, 15 points below the historical average for this point in a presidency. A new Gallup poll (Feb. 3-16) reveals similar low approval ratings across various policy areas, including immigration (46%), foreign affairs (44%), foreign trade (42%), and the economy (42%). His approval ratings on the situations in Ukraine and the Middle East are slightly lower, at 40% each.
The stark partisan divide is striking. 93% of Republicans approve of Trump’s performance, compared to 37% of independents and only 4% of Democrats. This 89-percentage-point gap is among the largest Gallup has ever recorded for any president. In contrast, approval for Congress has surged to 29%, driven primarily by a significant increase in Republican approval (53%) following the GOP’s unified control of government.
Historically, Trump’s approval ratings on foreign affairs and the economy are also low compared to his predecessors. While his foreign affairs approval (44%) is slightly higher than his 2017 figure, it lags behind recent presidents like Biden and Obama. His economic approval (42%) is lower than his 2017 rating and several other recent presidents.
Despite strong Republican support, Trump’s overall approval remains below 50% due to weak independent support and near-nonexistent Democratic support. The poll suggests this pattern of deep partisan division is likely to continue, mirroring the trend observed during his first term and even exceeding the partisan divide seen at the start of President Biden’s term.
First Piper 