It’s been two months since President Trump took over the White House
Experts have broken down Donald Trump’s approval ratings and how they compare to other presidents at similar times in their terms.
It’s been two months since President Trump took office for his second term on January 20, and early polls are already shedding light on how voters are responding to his bold moves.
True to form, the POTUS has quickly set his sights on fulfilling key campaign promises, particularly in the areas of trade and immigration. He’s hit the ground running, imposing a 25% tariff on goods from Canada, Mexico, China, and the European Union, while also leveraging an 18th-century wartime law to accelerate mass deportations. But perhaps the most controversial move of all has been the creation of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by none other than his trusted right-hand man and ‘First Buddy,’ Elon Musk. Under DOGE’s leadership, entire government departments and humanitarian programs have been slashed in a sweeping effort to eliminate what Trump calls waste and abuse from the federal budget.
Another significant moment during Trump’s second term was his heated meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where the two discussed the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
As for Trump’s approval ratings, they seem to reflect a divided public sentiment, with Gallup reporting a 46 percent approval rating. This is notably lower than the historical average of 52 percent for U.S. presidents between 1938 and 2025. For context, at the same point in their presidencies, Joe Biden had a 54 percent approval rating, Barack Obama enjoyed a 64 percent rating, and George W. Bush stood at 59 percent. The highest approval rating recorded during this period was held by John F. Kennedy, who reached 72 percent in February 1961.
Trump’s current approval rating of 46 percent is notably higher than his 41 percent average during his first term (2017-2021), and surpasses the 39 percent rating he had at this point in his first term in March 2017. Experts note that approval ratings tend to dip after the so-called ‘honeymoon period’ of a presidency. According to Costas Panagopoulos, head of political science at Northeastern University, the public may be expressing reservations about the Trump administration’s early policies. He pointed to issues like the economy and inflation as key examples of voter concerns.
“There are a lot of people who dismissed other claims and comments that he made during the campaign because they expected his priorities would align with things they wanted,” Panagopoulos told USA Today. “Now, they’re seeing that might not be the case.”
However, Panagopoulos also emphasizes that the current approval ratings reflect a highly polarized electorate, further divided by fragmented Democrats and a ‘united front’ of Republicans. He suggested that this polarization could be artificially inflating Trump’s approval numbers, particularly among Republican voters. “People are not going to move away from Trump until they have an alternative they can move towards,” he added.
