President Trump’s approval rating starts out at 49 percent in the first Emerson College Polling survey of his administration.
The poll, released Thursday, showed Trump’s approval rating is just about in line with the level of support he received in the 2024 presidential election. His disapproval rating of 41 percent is the lowest that Emerson has recorded in its national polls since the start of Trump’s first term, while 10 percent are neutral on Trump.
Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College Polling, noted in a release that Trump is above water in all age groups except for those 70 and older, which shows him with a disapproval rating of 49 percent and an approval rating of 48 percent.
The only age group where Trump has majority support if 50-to-59-year-olds, 52 percent of whom said they approve of him while 34 percent disapprove. Among those 60 to 69, Trump is just in the positive with 49 percent approval and 48 percent disapproval.
Very few of those 60 and older are neutral on Trump, while among those 18 to 29, 30 to 39, 40 to 49 and 50 to 59, the amount that said they are neutral ranged from 13 percent to 16 percent.
Pollsters found a significant increase in the percentage of those who say the country is heading in the right direction, with 52 percent saying so, compared to 48 percent who say it’s on the wrong track. A poll from earlier this month found two-thirds said it was heading in the wrong direction.
Kimball said the change is driven by a flip in Republican views of the country’s direction and fewer independents who say the country’s going in the wrong direction. A slight majority of independents still say it’s on the wrong track, but that’s a drop from the nearly 70 percent who said so earlier this month.
The poll also showed mixed viewpoints on the Trump administration’s actions on immigration and the issue in general. A slight majority of 54 percent said they support changing the definition of birthright citizenship so the children of immigrants without permanent legal status aren’t automatically granted citizenship, while 37 percent are opposed and about 20 percent are neutral.
Voters are about evenly split on Trump reversing policy to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to enter sensitive areas like schools and churches to conduct raids, with 45 percent opposed and 42 percent supportive.
But a majority, 56 percent, said they support granting a pathway to citizenship for immigrants without permanent legal status, while only 24 percent oppose it.
The poll was conducted among 1,000 registered voters from Jan. 27 to 28. The credibility interval, similar to margin of error, was 3 percentage points.
