President Donald Trump’s approval rating within the Republican party is higher than that of former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush at this point in their second term, based on aggregate polling by CNN’s Harry Enten.
Why It Matters
Approval ratings are a key barometer of a president’s political standing as the 2026 midterms draw closer. Small shifts can signal a changing public mood, even when overall sentiment remains negative.
Public sentiment on the Iran war could play a large role in Trump’s approval rating. The president campaigned on an “America First” platform during the 2024 election, but his second term has featured major foreign interventions, including a U.S. operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and U.S. strikes on Iran in June in coordination with Israel that the administration dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer,” and now “Operation Epic Fury.”
What To Know
When speaking about the tremendous weight that Trump’s endorsement carries, Enten said it’s due to the fact that “Republicans love Donald Trump more than any president’s own party supporters loved them at this particular point.”
Based on aggregate polling, Enten noted that at this point in their second terms, Republicans’ approval of Bush stood at 77 percent and Democrats’ approval of Obama was also 77 percent. By comparison, Donald Trump’s approval among Republicans is 86 percent.
“Trump’s magic touch has not seemed to worn off yet when it comes to the Republican base,” Enten said.
Among Republicans who “strongly approve” of Trump, he again leads previous presidents and is the only one with a majority at 53 percent. Obama with 48 percent and Bush at 47 percent.
A PRRI survey of 5,143 adults conducted between February 10 and 18 found that Trump has an 81 percent approval rating among Republicans, while a total of 36 percent among all Americans. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.49 percentage points.
However, a recent Economist/YouGov survey found that Trump’s overall net approval rating is lower than Biden’s, at -19 compared to the former Democratic president’s at -7 at this time. However, Biden only served one term, so the number isn’t reflective of this exact moment in a second term.
According to the poll, Trump’s approval rating is 38 percent, and his disapproval rating is 59 percent. The poll was conducted from February 27 to March 2, surveyed 1,515 U.S. adults, and has a margin of error of 3.4 percent.
The New York Times aggregator puts Trump’s disapproval rating at 56 percent and approval at 41 percent, as of Friday. VoteHub finds a similar rating, 54.5 percent disapproval and 42.3 percent approval, and RealClearPolling with 43.4 percent approval and 54.6 percent disapproval.
What People Are Saying
Harry Enten said in an X post on March 5: “Trump’s right: his endorsements are gold in GOP primaries. He’s like a Ruth or Brady for the GOP. Most people he endorses wins, & even most challengers win vs. incumbents. No wonder: Trump has the highest own party approval of any 21st century prez at this point in term 2.”
Grant Davis Reeher, a professor of political science at Syracuse University, told Newsweek on Tuesday for a related article: “One might be tempted to think that these results indicate that on the Republican side, primary candidates who have separated somewhat from the president might fare well, and on the Democratic side, candidates who are the most critical of the president also might fare well. But extrapolating from general approval ratings and other general questions to specific primary results is fraught with problems.
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social in February: “Record Stock Market, and National Security, driven by our Great TARIFFS. I am predicting 100,000 on the DOW by the end of my Term. REMEMBER, TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING! I hope the United States Supreme Court is watching.”
