"Gallup has Trump at 47% overall (versus 45% in 2017); Pew Research Center puts him at 47% as well (which tops all of its first-term numbers for him).
Yet in those two polls, Trump’s disapproval ratings (48% and 51%, respectively) still leave him underwater — more unpopular than not.
And historically, he continues to lag behind his Oval Office predecessors in terms of initial popularity.
… but it’s still lower than most past presidents’ (and it’s going down)
Excluding Trump, the average off-the-bat approval rating for all newly elected presidents since Dwight D. Eisenhower is 61%, according to Gallup.
That leaves Trump 2.0 in second-to-last place overall — even with his improved 2025 Gallup numbers.
Ahead of Trump in the inaugural approval contest, per Gallup, are John F. Kennedy (72%), Eisenhower (68%), Barack Obama (68%), Jimmy Carter (66%), Richard Nixon (59%), Bill Clinton (58%), Joe Biden (57%), George W. Bush (57%), George H.W. Bush (51%) and Ronald Reagan (51%).
The only president who trails second-term Trump (47%) is first-term Trump (45%)."
Also worth noting: Trump’s average approval rating across all reputable polls has decreased slightly since he returned to the Oval Office on Jan. 20, according to the aggregators at FiveThirtyEight, while his average disapproval rating has increased significantly. This means the gap between the two numbers has already shrunk by 3 percentage points, from 8.2% on Jan. 24 to 5.2% currently."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/is-trump-20-popular-heres-what-the-polls-say-203232443.html This post was edited by Spunky at February 12, 2025 6:30 PM MST