Trump's busy first month yields strong approval ratings

A new Economist/YouGov poll released Wednesday showed that U.S. adults are reacting positively overall to President Donald Trump's first month in office, which was filled with executive orders and other actions designed to repair the perceived damage done by former President Joe Biden's administration.

Exactly half of adults approved of Trump in the poll, including 32% who strongly approved.

Only 45% disapproved, with 37% strongly disapproving of the president.

That's a plus-five approval rating overall, which is higher than Trump had for most of his first term and both presidential campaigns.

Positive reaction

An Emerson College poll also released on Wednesday showed Trump with a 48% approval rating, while 42% in that poll disapproved of him for a plus-six approval rating overall.

Both polls show that Trump's actions during his first term in office have been generally well-received by many, although liberals and the mainstream press, which leans left, have been highly critical of some of them.

Trump's FiveThirtyEight average is plus 2.5 as of February 19, which is far above the negative 6.3 he had a month into his first term in 2017.

Trump ran on a pledge to fix immigration and the economy, the top two areas of voter dissatisfaction with Biden.

Quick results?

While immigration numbers are down at least 90% over where they were under Biden, egg prices have risen to record highs while gas prices continue to fluctuate.

Trump has delivered quick results in the past, but a month is not much time to see those results.

The public will need to be patient as Trump unravels four years of inflation and massive spending that have seen prices on many groceries double since the COVID-19 pandemic.

While DOGE says it has found over 50 billion in spending cuts during Trump's first month, many of those have been job cuts that may impact unemployment levels and other economic indicators, at least initially.

Given some time, Trump is bound to find ways to encourage and boost economic growth like he did the first time around; many voters seem to be counting on it.