Here’s What The Polls Say About President Trump’s Second Term So Far…

President Trump’s second term kicked off with a bang a little over 10 days ago…and the ratings are in!

Even MSM outlets like NBC News are being forced to admit that President Trump’s second term is off to a great start, with people having an overall better image of him than at the start of his first term in 2017.

You’ve also got CNN admitting that President Trump is the first president to have a higher approval rating in the first few weeks of his second term compared to any week of his first term:

🔥CNN: “Donald Trump is the first President ever whose net approval rating in the first month of his second term is higher than any rating that he had as an entire first term.” pic.twitter.com/VrYcTNWtLj

— jay plemons (@jayplemons) January 26, 2025

On immigration policy and deportations, over half of Americans are backing President Trump’s initiatives.

Polls also showed that the economy is the #1 issue on the minds of Americans.

Here’s what the NBC News report had to say:

President Donald Trump made quick work of his first week-plus back in office — ticking off a number of campaign-trail promises, issuing a boatload of pardons (some controversial) and enacting retribution on his political opponents.

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So far, the early polling shows Trump starting with more backing from voters — and more wiggle room — than he had going into his first term in the White House. But it remains to be seen how voters will judge his first actions as president.

The former president entered his second term with a better image rating than he had in January 2017. NBC News/Wall Street Journal polling from the days before his first inauguration found just 38% of adults giving him a positive rating, while Fox News found 42% of registered voters viewed him positively at that point.

Now, Fox News’ most recent poll showed Trump with a 50% positive rating among registered voters and a 50% unfavorable rating. A new Wall Street Journal poll found that 47% of registered voters viewed him favorably, while 51% viewed him unfavorably. Both polls were conducted before Trump took office.

Polling is split on Americans’ expectations for Trump. According to CNN polling, 56% of American adults say they expect Trump to be a very good or fairly good president, while 43% expect him to be fairly poor or very poor. (CNN’s preinaugural poll in January 2021 found slightly higher expectations ahead of Joe Biden’s term, while its polling in January 2017 found adults split on their expectations for Trump, with 48% saying they think he’d be very or fairly good and 48% saying he’d be very or fairly poor.)

A preinaugural poll from The New York Times and Ipsos found that 47% of adults are either excited or optimistic about his presidency, while 51% are either pessimistic or worried about his presidency.

Meanwhile, when it comes to some of the key issues Trump has pursued in the earliest days of his second term, the polling shows both opportunity and peril for his presidency.

Polling from CNN and The New York Times showed that the economy is far and away the most important issue on Americans’ minds. But many of the headlines Trump has made so far center around issues like immigration and pardons, particularly his decision to issue a sweeping pardon for those convicted over their conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Americans appear broadly more open to Trump’s efforts on deportations than they do on the Jan. 6-related pardons. The polls also show that public support for Trump’s actions falls off when voters consider the potential outcomes if (or when) Trump takes the hardest line on those issues.

The Wall Street Journal found just 38% of registered voters backed blanket pardons for all Jan. 6 defendants (57% opposed it). That’s compared with 43% who said they’d back pardons for all except those convicted of assaulting police officers and 54% who opposed it. (Trump ended up pardoning virtually all who faced federal charges, including those convicted of violent offenses. A handful of others convicted on conspiracy charges got their sentences commuted.)

On immigration enforcement, there appears to be a majority or strong plurality baseline of support for Trump’s broad pledge of enacting widespread deportations. The Wall Street Journal found that 52% of registered voters favor a call to “detain and deport millions of undocumented immigrants” and 45% oppose it, while 55% of adults in the New York Times/Ipsos poll supported deporting all immigrants in America illegally and 42% opposed it.

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So, why is the consensus on President Trump’s second term generally higher than in his first?

Maybe it had something to do with the pause…

With President Trump out of office for these past four years, and really, America having no real leader (at least on the surface…), Americans are so relieved to have a real president back in charge…

Someone with a mandate who is taking action to bring about a new American golden age…

Jamie Roe shared some great thoughts in an opinion piece for USA Today:

Let’s face it: For the past four years, it has seemed to a lot of us that we haven’t had a leader in our nation.

Throughout his term as president, we watched Joe Biden seemingly unable to find his way off a stage, shaking hands with air, stumbling along while trying to read a teleprompter, being nearly hidden from the media and getting our information from a press secretary who reads answers out of a binder (like telling us the border is secure and Biden would never pardon his son). The best news from Inauguration Day is the realization that we have a president again.

After four years of wondering who is actually calling the shots in Washington – because we suspected it wasn’t Biden – there is no question who is in charge now.

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Donald J. Trump is back, he’s ready to lead, and we know exactly what he will do because it will be exactly what he said he would do in his reelection campaign: Put America first.

Look at his first day back in office.

Up early for a church service, tea at the White House with Biden, headed off to the U.S. Capitol for his swearing-in ceremony, delivered a speech to refocus the nation, gave a second speech to supporters in the Capitol, signed Cabinet nominations and executive orders before leaving the Capitol, went to the rally/parade, headed back to the White House, signed dozens more executive orders, held an hour-long impromptu news conference with reporters in the Oval Office, changed into formal wear and headed to the inaugural balls, danced at three of them with the first lady and gave further remarks to attendees, then returned to the White House for the night.

Does anyone think Biden could have done all of that? Change and vigor have arrived back in Washington.

What are your thoughts?

Are you even happier with Trump 2.0?

What would you like to see President Trump and his administration focus on in the coming days, weeks, and months?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments…