One hundred days into President Trump’s second term, polls show that Americans are increasingly concerned with Trump’s constitutional overreach, as well as frustrated and worried over the economic chaos he’s unleashed.
Indeed, Trump’s overall approval rating has seen a 14-point decline since entering office. He is now 7 points underwater (45 percent approve versus 52 percent disapprove) after starting with a plus-7 point rating per RealClearPolitics polling aggregator.
That being said, Trump’s numbers may actually be worse than the aggregator makes them appear.
In the five most recent polls tracked by Real Clear Politics — NPR (-10), ABC News (-13), CNN (-14), NY Times/Siena (-12) and CBS (-10) — Trump has an average negative 12-point approval rating.
Put another way, Trump has blown all of the goodwill he had during his honeymoon period as sentiments have turned decidedly negative.
Further, while Trump’s average 45 percent approval is slightly better than at this point in his first term, it is 11 points lower than former President Biden’s was 100 days into his term, per Gallup.
As one of us recently wrote, part of the overarching problem stems from Trump’s tendency to overstep constitutional limits, often acting excessively rather than methodically.
Whether it’s implementing, then pausing, sweeping tariffs, deportations without due process or firing federal employees and gutting federal benefits without review, the administration’s pace and recklessness are scaring Americans.
Since last December, the share of Americans saying they feel “afraid” or “pessimistic” about Trump’s presidency has risen 16 points (41 percent to 57 percent), per CNN.
At the same time, just 43 percent of Americans say they’re “optimistic” or “enthusiastic,” an 8-point decline.
Worse still for the administration is that the data suggests rising anger with Trump’s handling of the economy — a cornerstone of his 2024 campaign.
According to CNBC’s All-America Economic Survey, just slightly more than 4 in 10 (43 percent) Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, while a majority (55 percent) disapprove.
This is the first time in either term that Trump has had net-negative ratings on the economy.
In that same vein, 50 percent of voters, including a majority of independents (54 percent), say Trump has actually made the economy worse, according to the New York Times/Siena poll.
Conversely, only one-fifth (21 percent) of voters say he’s made the economy better.
And on inflation, which played a significant role in Trump’s victory, his approval was the lowest of all issues CNBC’s poll tested.
Just 37 percent of Americans approve of how the president is handling inflation, versus 6 in 10 who disapprove.
Similarly, slightly more than 6 in 10 (61 percent) of Americans disapprove of his approach to trade and tariffs, whereas 39 percent approve, per NBC News polling.
With the Commerce Department reporting the first quarterly economic contraction since 2022, it's hard to see Trump’s path to improve his polling numbers on this critical issue, absent a total reversal in his tariff policies.
To that end, the chaos caused by how Trump has rolled out his tariffs have exacerbated Americans’ dissatisfaction, negatively impacting perceptions of other aspects of his presidency.
Per Pew Research, a majority (54 percent) of Americans are not confident that Trump has the negotiating skills to even secure the trade deals the White House insists are imminent.
In fact, a majority of Americans have little to no confidence in Trump’s ability to handle any issue, including making good decisions about foreign policy (56 percent), economic policy (55 percent) or managing the executive branch effectively (55 percent).
Pew also noted that a majority (59 percent) of Americans feel that how Trump, Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have gone about cutting government spending is “too careless.”
In what should have been an easy issue — Americans broadly agree that the government is bloated and wasteful — the administration bungled it by taking it to the extreme.
Aside from the economy, immigration was a key factor in Trump’s victory last November, and on that, he remains generally above water.
Fox News polling shows a majority (55 percent) of voters approving of his handling of the border, virtually identical to the 53 percent approval reported by CNBC.
However, even on immigration, voters have soured on the administration’s heavy-handed approach.
The above Fox News poll showed that while Trump had a net-positive 15-point approval on border security, on the question of how he’s handled deportations, he had a net-negative rating (45 percent approve versus 49 percent disapprove).
Notably, the Fox News poll was conducted after the controversy surrounding the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who the administration “mistakenly” deported, yet maintains they have no plans to return to the U.S., despite a Supreme Court ruling.
Finally, on foreign policy, majorities of Americans disapprove of Trump’s approach to the Russia-Ukraine war (56 percent), and foreign conflicts generally (54 percent), per the New York Times/Siena poll.
Having come into office promising to end the Russia-Ukraine war in “24 hours” and oversee the return of at least the remaining American hostage held by Hamas, Trump’s efforts have harshly collided with reality.
On Ukraine specifically, Trump’s insistence on pressuring Ukraine into a mineral deal while absolving Putin of any responsibility for the invasion clearly has not gone over well with voters.
Ironically, this has caused Americans to be more sympathetic to Ukraine, with Gallup reporting a record high share of Americans (46 percent) saying the U.S. is not doing enough to aid the country in its war.
Taken together, polls indicate a clear trend: More than simply not living up to his campaign promises, Trump’s need for excess is actively undermining his own presidency.
Having been elected to crush inflation, lower the cost of living and spur economic growth, this administration is doing the opposite.
One hundred days in, their thoughtless approach to tariffs is weighing down the economy and possibly leading the U.S. to recession, to say nothing of angering voters.
Ultimately, 100 days may be too short to make any precise predictions about the rest of the term, however it is certainly enough time for Americans to report their feelings towards a new administration.
In regards to the second Trump administration, the data in poll after poll is clear, and echoes the Wall Street Journal editorial page: “Trump 2.0 is in trouble.”
Douglas E. Schoen and Carly Cooperman are pollsters and partners with the public opinion company Schoen Cooperman Research based in New York. They are co-authors of the book, “America: Unite or Die.”
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