President Trump kicked off his second term with a higher approval rating than his first — and significantly higher than former President Joe Biden’s when he left the White House.
Trump was more popular this week than at any point during his 2017-2021 term, with 47% of Americans approving of his presidency as he re-entered the White House on Monday, according to a Reuters poll.
Meanwhile, a similar poll conducted by CBS News found Biden’s popularity dramatically decreased as his presidency concluded, with only 37% of Americans approving of his work as he left office on Monday — the lowest approval rating he ever received while in office.
Trump’s stance on immigration, including his nixing of the CBP One app that helped migrants set up immigration appointments before entering the country, seemingly won over many Americans.
Some 58% of respondents to Reuters’ poll said they believe the US should “dramatically reduce the number of migrants allowed to claim asylum at the border,” indicating support for the Republican president’s tough-on-immigration position.
Still, while many respondents highlighted the immigration crisis — dramatically worsened by the Biden administration welcoming 8 million illegal immigrants into the US — only 46% approved of Trump’s handling of the issue so far.
While the commander-in-chief’s second term is off to a promising start, his standing among voters is still low by historical standards, according to Jacob Rubashkin, a political analyst at Inside Elections who said US presidents typically start their terms with approval ratings over 50%.
“Yes it’s positive for Trump, but it’s roughly in line with what we saw in the first term — a historically low approval rating at the outset of a presidency,” Rubashkin said.
Trump’s approval rating was likely dinged by his decision to pardon the nearly 1,600 participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
According to the poll, a whopping 58% of Americans said Trump should not pardon the Capitol rioters or end the sentences of those involved in the siege — a move the president completed within hours of entering office.
Additionally, only about 29% of respondents said they approved of how Trump was handling the perceived politicization of the justice system.
Trump previously hinted he’d sic prosecutors on his enemies once in office, likely spurring Biden’s 11th-hour pardons for his family, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and members of the House panel that probed the Jan. 6 riots.
Trump, who won the 2024 election in a landslide victory against Biden’s VP, Kamala Harris, started his first presidency with a 43% approval rating.
While that rating eventually rose to 49%, it also fell to about 34% following the Jan. 6 riot.
The Reuters poll surveyed 1,077 American adults and had a margin error of about 4 points in either direction, the outlet said.
With Post wires
