According to a New York Times poll, President Trump's job approvals fell steadily in the first three months of his tenure.
Mr. Trump's approval rate dropped to about 45% a week after he took office. Polls show that about half of the countries now disapprove of his performance.
The U.S. president usually enters the office with gradually weakening support over time. But Trump's recognition was slightly faster than his predecessor.
Mr. Trump began his tenure with the second highest recognition rate of presidents in modern history. The only president who has begun to be in a worse position lately is Mr. Trump’s first take office.
The voting average, composed of the New York Times, includes nearly all publicly published polls that tracked Mr. Trump’s approval rate. The purpose of the voting average is to balance the biases of individual polls, which may vary in quality and frequency and make it easier to track changes in public opinion over time.
Averages do not directly address the reasons for the decline in approvals, or whether they are driven by specific actions, such as his enactment of tariffs, threats to allies, or cycles in the market.
On average, in all polls, Mr. Trump’s figures continue to drop after he issued global tariffs under executive orders. Although high-quality polls were rarely conducted before and after the tariffs were announced, most people did not show a significant decline after Trump called “Liberation Day.”
It is too early to fully capture how such an incident affects public opinion.
During his second term, Mr. Trump sought to reshape the global economy, fight immigration, and narrow down overhauls at the federal government and U.S. law firms and universities. The blitz is part of a “drowning zone” strategy developed by Mr. Trump’s aides and allies to overwhelm any opposition.
Mr. Trump is following many of his promises as a candidate, but even some supporters are concerned about some of his actions. In particular, the huge tariffs on dozens of countries shocked allies and opponents. The trade war plunged global economic markets into turmoil 90 days before Mr. Trump stopped tariffs and cited negotiations from other countries on new trade deals.
Polls show he has little support among Republican voters.
Quinnipiac University polls show that most of the approval declines in voters for recognized voters come from voters. His position with key voting groups received 41% approval and 46% objection in January. In a mid-April poll by Quinnipiac, 58% of independents said they disapprove of the president's performance, while only 36% approved the president.
Pollers are still working to fully assess Mr. Trump’s support. In 2024, pre-election polls underestimated Mr. Trump’s average 3 percentage points. But even polls that most accurately evaluate his support, such as Atlasintel, now show net negative approval ratings.
Mr. Trump sees his second term as a huge success. He boasted about a sharp drop in illegal border crossings, billions of dollars in new investments, the release of Americans being imprisoned abroad, and has developed diversity initiatives in the public and private sectors.
Mr. Trump also promised a new trade deal, including China, is approaching.
“We will make money with everyone and everyone will be happy,” he told reporters outside the White House on Wednesday.
Irineo Cabreros Contribute data analysis.
