Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Higher With Black People Than White People

More Black voters approve of Donald Trump’s job performance as president than white voters, according to a new poll from America’s most accurate pollster.

Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email.

Why It Matters

While Black voters still very much align in favor of the Democrats, the 2024 election saw a sizeable shift toward the Republicans among Black Americans, with the Democrats winning about 80 percent of the Black vote, down from 90 percent in 2020, according to the Associated Press.

In total, Trump won 20 percent of the Black vote, compared to 13 percent in 2020 and 8 percent in 2016, the highest level of support by Black voters for any Republican since George W. Bush in 2000.

Trump also saw significant support from Black voters in the swing states. One exit poll from Wisconsin published by NBC showed Trump improved his vote share among Black voters by 13 percent since 2020, and in North Carolina, he saw a 5-point increase.

What To Know

According to a new poll conducted by AtlasIntel between January 21 and 23, 69 percent of Black voters approve of Trump’s job performance, compared to 50 percent of white voters. Meanwhile, 31 percent of Black voters disapprove of Trump’s job performance, compared to 49 percent of White voters.

Overall, those polled were split over whether they approve or disapprove of Trump’s job performance, with 50 percent saying they approve and 50 percent saying they disapprove. The poll surveyed 1,882 people and had a margin of error of +/- 2 percent.

AtlasIntel was the most accurate pollster in the 2024 president election, correctly predicting Trump to achieve victory in the national popular vote.

Trump’s growing support among Black voters could be explained by their views about immigration. According to the AtlasIntel poll, 72 percent of Black voters see immigration as a key challenge for the U.S., ranking it higher than any other issue. White voters were also more likely to see immigration immigration as a key challenge, with 52 percent choosing it as their main issue.

Immigration was the cornerstone of Trump’s campaign. He vowed to hold the largest mass deportation in history and has said he will use the National Guard to round up migrants, and invoke the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law that allows the president to deport any noncitizen from a country the U.S. is at war with.

On Monday, after he took the oath of office, Trump began rolling out his agenda, signing more than 100 executive orders. Among those were orders that declared a national emergency at the border, ended birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants born in the U.S., cracked down on “sanctuary cities” and states that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration agents, and ordered the Defense Department to provide troops and resources “to support the activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security in obtaining complete operational control” of the border. He also instructed the military to help build border barriers to repel migrants.

The AtlasIntel poll shows that Trump is enjoying broad support for his action on immigration, with 54 percent of respondents saying that they are strongly or mostly in favor of Trump’s proposal for mass deportations. However, only 47 percent said they support Trump’s executive order to ban birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants, while 49 percent said they oppose it.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration ordered the removal of officials overseeing DEI initiatives across federal agencies. A memo from the Office of Personnel Management instructed agency heads to place all DEI staff on paid administrative leave by 5 p.m. Wednesday and to plan staff reductions by January 31.

The memo also mandated the removal of any DEI materials and the withdrawal of pending documents that conflicted with the new orders. Additionally, agencies were told to ensure no ongoing DEI efforts remained “in disguise.”

The move follows Trump’s Day 1 executive order to dismantle federal diversity programs and urges the private sector to align with federal policies, emphasizing compliance with civil rights laws.