Trump Approval on Same Low Level in First and Second Terms

Being received with high honors in the United Kingdom today comes at a convenient time for U.S. President Donald Trump as his low approval rating has made headlines recently. According to Gallup, second-term approval reached a low in July and mirrors poor results from the start of his first term in 2017. The only time Trump's approval was lower than July's (37 percent) was during the same time in Trump's first term in 2017 and at the very end of it in January 2021, at 35 percent and 34 percent, respectively.

Trump's predecessor, President Joe Biden, had his approval rating sink as low as 37 percent towards the end of his time in office. While Trump saw his approval fluctuate towards the end of his term, Biden's stagnated more, around the 40-percent mark all through his second, third and into his fourth year in office.

All three most recent U.S. Presidents - Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Barack Obama - saw their popularity deteriorate right at the start of their presidencies. Obama took the biggest plunge but Biden's initial drop in approval comes close. Trump started with a lower approval rating of only around 45 percent in January 2017, reached a low of 35 percent in August and was back up to 40-42 percent by mid-2018. He was, however, able to surpass his starting approval later, during his fourth year in office, something that never happened for Obama.

Obama's, Trump's and Biden's approval ratings in relation to the time they had been in office came pretty close to each other in their third year. Early in the fourth year, Trump's ratings picked up, hitting 49 percent in January 2022 (month 37) during impeachment hearings in the Senate and overtaking Obama's at the time. According to Gallup, Obama's approval rating was only 45 percent at the same time in January 2012, following low job creation and a feud with the Republicans about raising the debt ceiling. Biden's stood at 41 percent in January 2024 amid economic pressures, critique of his reelection campaign and dysfunction in Congress.