Trump approval rating going down, but...

The American people were so upset over the Biden administration, for the first time that I can ever remember, the bad orange man was polling over 50% approval when he first took office.

That approval rating has taken a hit since, but it is not as simple as that, which is what I want to explain in this report.  

Biden leaving office 

When Joe Biden took office, his approval rating was utterly ridiculous on the high end, approaching 60% in some polls, but he had yet to do anything. This was more about the hatred for Trump than it was approving of anything that Biden had done to that point.  

It took Biden just a few weeks to start seeing that number go down, and after the Afghanistan debacle and due to rising inflation, Biden’s approval rating just went down for virtually his entire administration.  

As Biden was leaving office, his approval rating was down to 33%, with 58% viewing his administration as unfavorable, numbers significantly worse than Trump. The funny thing was that Kamala Harris, who would wind up running instead of Biden, had an even lower approval rating.  

The bad news for Democrats is that these numbers were pretty much across the board, but the economy was primarily the driver, which is key to the Trump aspect of this report.  

Trump Polling Since Taking Office 

About a month in, the feedback for Trump was shockingly good, with an approval rating of 53%, which I believe was the best Trump had ever seen.  

However, as the tariff talk started to happen, prices increased, and Trump’s ratings started to slip.  

For instance, an Emerson poll taken later that month had Trump at 46%, and a Harvard poll had Trump at 43% as of the third week in February.  

As I noted with Biden, people vote with their wallets, and the continued rising costs of groceries and energy are starting to affect Trump.  

Let’s Be Realistic 

Now, if you look at that polling data, Trump has been on a downward trend since being elected, which is perfectly normal for any president right after an election. At 45%, Trump matched his lowest approval rating for both terms, with the exception being Trump’s first February in 2021.  

There are two reasons this is happening. First, Trump is back in the public eye every day, and people are starting to remember why they hate the man; far too many people vote on feelings over policy in this country.  

Second, Trump significantly overpromised during the election, especially on groceries and energy, and he is now paying the price. Until costs go down, Trump’s approval rating will pay for it.  

I have always asked our readers to be patient, and not to expect anything significant on this front until the second year comes into play. It will take time for the policies to impact prices, and we are going to take it on the chin a bit until then. Be patient, but believe me, if I think Trump is taking us down the wrong path, you better believe I will call him out. For the time being, however, I am going to give him some length on the leash to allow his policies to start to make an impact.