Five weeks into his second term as president, and Donald Trump still holds the approval of the American voting-age public. But, not surprisingly, sharp differences emerge when looking at party affiliation, with Republicans more likely to give the new chief executive high approval marks than either Democrats or independents, the latest I&I/TIPP Poll shows.
The national online poll was taken by a sample of 1,434 adults from March 26-28 and has a margin of error of +/-2.6 percentage points.
Those taking the poll were asked: "Overall, is your opinion of Donald Trump generally favorable, generally unfavorable, or are you not familiar enough to say one way or the other?"
Among those responding, 47% said they are "favorable," while 43% said they are “unfavorable”. Another 7% said they were "not familiar enough to say," while 3% said they weren't sure.
Those taking the poll were also asked, similarly: "In general, do you APPROVE or DISAPPROVE of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president, or are you not familiar enough to say one way or the other?"
The response: 46% said they "approve," while 43% said they disapproved. Another 7% said they were "not familiar enough to say," while 3% said they weren't sure.
But differences once again emerged when the data were disaggregated by party.
Republicans overwhelmingly approve of the job Trump's doing, 82% approve to 9% disapprove, while Dems flipped those numbers at 17% approve and 78% disapprove. Indie voters straddled the two mainstream parties, 38% to 46% disapprove.
And there was one other big disparity: Men and women. Men approved/disapproved Trump by 49% to 34%; women came in at just 32% approval, vs. 47% disapproval, another flip.
How about the economy? I&I/TIPP asked respondents: "How would you grade Trump Administration performance" in handling of the economy?
On this question, those answering were asked to give standard school grades to Trump: A (excellent), B (good), C (average), D (poor), F (unacceptable).
Here, the Trump administration received 40% of their grades at the good level or higher, at A (21%) or B (19%); 14% at C grade; and 41% at the failing levels of D (14%) and F (29%).
Once again, the party split was significant. Republicans assigned Trump 71% good grades or above, with 41% A and 30% B. Democrats, meanwhile, gave only 14% good grades to Trump, with A grades at 7% and B grades also at 7%. Indies gave a slightly more generous 35% good grades with 13% As and 22% Bs.
C grades were surprisingly similar, with Republicans giving only slightly more (17%) than Democrats (12%) and independents (13%).
As for the failing grades D or F, Republican scores broke only 10% either D (6%) or F (4%); Democrats, 71% at either D (18%) or F (53%); and independents handed out 44% at the D (18%) and F (26%).
As noted above, it's been only five weeks, but a significant number of non-Republicans are not impressed. Why not?
One part might be, of course, political bias. Left-leaning Dems generally dislike Trump, and independents are mostly lukewarm.
But a more tangible reason could be lingering fears over the inflation of President Joe Biden's years in office, which Trump has promised to vanquish.
I&I/TIPP asked about this: "How concerned are you about inflation in the United States over the next twelve months?"
Among Republicans, 74% answered either "very concerned" (36%) or "somewhat concerned" (38%); for Dems, the same responses came back 91% saying either very concerned (66%) or somewhat concerned (38%). Of independents, it was 81% either very (50%) or somewhat (31%) concerned.
"Not very" concerned and "not at all" concerned were 25% for Republicans, 8% for Democrats, and 14% for indies.
So, yes, inflation remains a major issue, especially with online media and TV news reporting on the cost of eggs almost daily. A random Google check on "egg prices" yields 1.4 billion hits.
The Biden administration ordered the slaughter of some 160 million chickens as a way to slow the spread of the avian flu. That left a dearth of eggs on the market, followed by sharply higher prices. Fair or not, eggs, a common ingredient in most American kitchens, have become a media bellwether for inflation.
Unfairly or not, Trump has been blamed in the media for not doing enough about egg and other rising prices, just five weeks into his tenure.
What about the dreaded "R" word: Recession?
I&I/TIPP Poll asked: "How concerned are you about the economic slowdown or recession in the United States over the next twelve months?"
It turns out, people are quite concerned. Of all those taking the poll, 76% answered either "very concerned" (45%) or "somewhat concerned" (31%), while only 20% replied "not very concerned" (14%) or "not at all" concerned (6%).
So Americans clearly are worried, after four years of COVID lockdowns, soaring inflation, failing business and falling real wages, that the economy could go into a tailspin. And here, the concerns weren't just partisan in nature: Dems (87% concerned), Republicans (65%) and independents (77%) are all watching the economic horizon for more bad news.
So the question arises: Given what is known of people's concerns, do they feel President Trump and his administration are paying enough attention, especially with regards to the economy?
I&I/TIPP asked voters: "Do you think Donald Trump is giving enough attention to economic issues?"
There, the answer was evenly split between "Yes, he is sufficiently focused on the economy" (45%) and "No, he should prioritize the economy more" (45%), with 10% responding "not sure."
Right now, however, the economy remains an issue. Trump, as economists will note, is not to blame for current data, including stubborn inflation, which were set in place during Biden's final half year or so in office.
It's just five weeks into office, Trump's team is now finally in place.
Yet, here's the first part of a recent USA Today column:
"Donald Trump has been president for more than a month and Americans remain concerned about the economy," wrote Dace Potas. "Worries about several key economic indicators are on the rise among Americans, and recent reports of worsening inflation should raise questions about Trump's ability to handle our economic crisis."
None of the data cited were caused by Trump policies. All are on Biden's tab. Yet, Potas is correct about one thing: The American public can be fickle, and there may be some bad residual news in store for the first and second quarters of 2025.
Trump's favorability will, however, be closely tied to the economy, which remains at or very near the top of every list of top issues according to voters.
CNN hit Trump with this very recent headline: "Americans are getting fed up with the economy. Does that mean we’re heading into a recession?"
Right now, both a continuation of Biden's inflation and even a recession both look very possible. Like a battleship, large, complex economies cannot turn around immediately.
Nor do prices. Recently, Walmart's CEO joined other recent voices in warning that grocery and other prices are causing "frustration and pain" for average Americans, who eagerly await relief.
As we noted above, egg prices have become a media sensation, even though the slaughter of more than 100 million chickens due to bird flu in the last year or so is the cause. Eggs come from breeding more chickens, not from government bureaucrats' diktats.
Will a recession ruin Trump's honeymoon with voters and slow his administration's momentum? It's certainly a possibility. Consumer confidence had ebbed for three months in a row, and the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank's "GDPNow" data show the economy is on track for a 1.5% drop in the first quarter, based on data already in.
For now, Trump's overall favorability remains high. Americans like his can-do spirit, his indefatigable energy, and his immediate action to cut unnecessary government spending and staffing — which is already bringing down interest rates. His immigration policies are popular, and there he has had stunning success, with illegal "encounters" at the border down nearly 100% from a year ago.
So far, Trump's had a great start to his second-term resume. If he can add a healed economy and lower inflation to that resume, it will be complete.
I&I/TIPP publishes timely, unique, and informative data each month on topics of public interest. TIPP’s reputation for polling excellence comes from being the most accurate pollster for the past six presidential elections.
Terry Jones is an editor of Issues & Insights. His four decades of journalism experience include serving as national issues editor, economics editor, and editorial page editor for Investor’s Business Daily.
