Nearly 100 days into President Donald Trump’s second term, only roughly 41% of Americans approve of his presidential performance, according to a new CNN poll. This is the lowest rating for any newly elected president at this benchmark in 70 years, dating back at least to Dwight Eisenhower.
Despite winning the popular vote in the 2024 presidential election, only 22% of Americans indicated a strong approval of his tenure, according to CNN. The 45% who strongly disapproved of Trump’s actions cited cuts to the federal workforce, economic issues and immigration.
Early Monday morning, Trump slammed the results in a Truth Social post, calling the reports “FAKE POLLS FROM FAKE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS.” Later in the post, he said that the people responsible for these polls should be investigated for election fraud.
“They suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome, and there is nothing that anyone, or anything, can do about it,” Trump wrote. “THEY ARE SICK…AND ARE TRULY THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!”
Trump’s approval rates most notably dropped for women, Hispanic Americans and those who described themselves as political independents, according to CNN’s poll. Compared to CNN’s February 17 data, approval fell from 44% to 36% for women, 41% to 28% for Hispanics and 43% to 31% for independents.
“I would express a lot of disappointment, and especially to the younger folks, people in our generation who maybe grew up in a different environment, one where they supported the ideal of Trump,” Alex Gramajo, a junior studying health promotion and disease prevention studies and USG’s assistant director of social and recreation startup funds, said.
Gramajo said that during the 2024 presidential campaign, data showed what would happen within the first 100 days if Trump were elected.
“People still did not listen,” he said.
Freshman Ruby Belt, a math and economics major and member of USC’s Political Union and Trojan Democrats, said that she thinks the recent drop in approval ratings stems largely from a lack of understanding about Trump’s policies during his campaigns.
“I am a Democrat, and the messaging on what his tariff policy actually meant and what effects it would have on businesses were not necessarily clear,” Belt said. “A lot of people don’t have advanced degrees in economics… a lot of people are not taught about what that means.”
Belt said that strategic messaging could be to blame for the switch in attitudes for the president.
“I think that because [the Republican Party] can mask these complicated policies with simple ideas of being pro-American and such, it’s definitely interesting to see the real-life effects,” she said.
Dakota Driemeyer, a junior majoring in legal studies and the incoming president of USC College Republicans, said when he looks at polls about Trump’s base, he often questions their validity and takes them “with a grain of salt.”
“There’s been good victories — victories in the border, making sure that we’re securing it, which was not the case under Biden. Making sure we’re making America healthy again, working with Secretary [Robert F.] Kennedy [Jr.] as well to ban Red 40, working to support American farmers and ranchers,” Driemeyer said. “So many good things are happening, and I don’t want numbers to essentially cheapen that.”
Driemeyer suggested going to AtlasIntel Polling or Trafalgar Group Polling to find what he called “more reliably accurate” polls. Media Bias/Fact Check rates AtlasIntel Polling as highly factual and least biased, while Trafalgar Group Polling is rated as having mixed factual reporting and a right-center bias. CNN is rated mostly factual and left-center bias.
While Driemeyer said he didn’t want numbers to cheapen what he calls Trump’s success, the polls show that approval ratings on how he has handled federal jobs, the economy and immigration have declined.
Trump’s moves to fire workers in the federal government workforce and shake up Washington is seen by 57% of people as “unnecessarily putting the country at risk.” Confidence with how Trump deals with the economy fell from near 65% in December 2024 to 52% in April 2025.
Trump initially had greater approval in the immigration sector compared to his first term, but the poll now finds declining opinions. 53% express confidence in his ability to deal with immigration, down from 60% in December, according to CNN.
The only issue where Trump has earned a positive rating is his handling of issues related to gender identity and transgender people, with 51% of respondents approving.
Gramajo said that while his ratings have decreased, one thing remains the same: Trump is still the president.
“He’s up there, and regardless of his rating being low, we have to deal with him for four more years unless he gets impeached again,” Gramajo said.