President Donald Trump‘s high approval rating appears to be fading, according to polls from The Economist /YouGov.
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email on Wednesday for comment.
Why It Matters
Trump headed into office on the heels of a favorable rating and held onto the positive polling during his first weeks on the job. Trump is also seeing higher approval ratings this term compared to his first, polling shows.
Trump has historically been a fan of polls, touting positive surveys in his favor and blasting negative polling on his social media.
What To Know
On polling aggregate 538 on Wednesday, Trump has a net positive of 3.3 percent with a 48.9 percent approval rating compared to a 45.6 percent disapproval rating. However, in a new poll on Wednesday by The Economist/YouGov, Trump’s overall approval slipped.
In a survey taken between February 9-11 polling U.S. citizens, Trump had a 46 percent approval rating compared to a 48 percent disapproval rating. This is the first time since Trump’s inauguration that his disproval percentage was higher than his approval. The poll’s margin of error was 3.4 percent.
In an Economist/YouGov poll taken between February 2-4, Trump had a 46 percent approval rating compared to a 44 percent disapproval rating. The poll had a 3.2 percent margin of error. In a previous poll before that taken between January 26-28, Trump had a 49 percent approval rating compared to a 43 percent disapproval rating. The poll had a 3.2 percent margin of error.
Wednesday’s poll noted, “President Donald Trump began his presidency on a surge of popularity, unprecedented for him. That has now faded.”
Around Trump’s January 20 inauguration, the president had a 49 percent favorable percentage compared to a 48 percent unfavorable percentage. The survey polled adult citizens between January 19-21 with a margin of error of 3.2 percent.
The poll before that taken January 12-14 showed Trump with a 45 percent favorable rating among U.S. adult citizens compared to 51 percent unfavorable. The poll had a 3.6 percent margin of error.
What People Are Saying
Political science professor Kevin Wagner told Newsweek via text message on Wednesday about the recent Economist/YouGov polls: “It could just be the normal variations that happen in polling. you really have to wait a little bit of time and repeat to see if there’s a trend.”
Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell of California said on X (formerly Twitter): “100% *Trump’s approval rating **In Russia”
In a video posted by Trump’s Rapid Response 47 team on X on Monday, Trump said in part: “I have high approval ratings because… I’m using common sense. Whether it’s getting men out of women’s sports.
Trump continued, “To me it’s all common sense, who wants an open border? Where prisons are dumped into our country. Where prisoners are let into our country, many of whom are murderers. Many of whom murdered far more than one person, and they’re now roaming our country. Who wants that? It’s terrible.”
What Happens Next
Trump’s first 100 days in office are underway, and numerous polls will be put out in the coming weeks tracking his approval rating.
