People

• Voters gave Trump’s transition positive marks, and that’s continuing as he takes office. Our first look at his job approval rating shows 52% approve and 44% disapprove of Trump’s job performance, matching the 52% high point he reached in March 2017.
• 19% of Democrats and 40% of independents approve of Trump, and his net approval rating is above water with all voters under the age of 65.

• Trump’s favorability ratings are similar to where they were at the same point in his first term, when 49% of voters had a favorable view and 44% viewed him unfavorably.
• While recent years, including 2024, saw Democrats in Congress routinely draw more favorable ratings from voters than Republicans, that’s not the case right now. 
• Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) face low awareness from the electorate, though voters are more likely to view them negatively than positively.

Policy

• Voters are most likely to want Trump to focus on costs for goods and services, and specifically health care affordability, following a campaign that was dominated by voters’ concerns about inflation.
• Less than a quarter of voters (23%) said the Trump administration should make imposing tariffs on goods imported to the United States a “top priority,” and in light of Trump’s recent invocations of manifest destiny, even fewer (16%) want to see the new rulers of Washington focus on expanding America's territory.

• Majorities of voters approve of Trump’s handling of most issues at the beginning of his second term, with the president receiving his best marks on immigration (56% approval) and national security (55%). 
• Trump faces the highest disapproval rating when it comes to his handling of abortion 44% disapprove) and LGBTQ+ rights (43% disapprove).

• Republicans hold big advantages over Democrats on trust to handle immigration, national security, trade and the economy. 
• Voters are much more likely to trust Democrats to handle health care, LGBTQ+ rights, climate change, abortion and Medicare/Social Security. 
• Voters are closely divided over whom they trust to handle energy policy.

News

• Despite Trump’s popularity honeymoon, voters have generally been more likely to hear something negative than positive about him in the months since his November victory. 
• Few voters say they’ve heard much about Johnson or Thune as the two work with Trump to plot his legislative strategy. 
• News sentiment about the two parties in Congress tended to be negative in the lead-up to the inauguration.

• Following Trump’s inauguration, Republican voters are increasingly likely to say that they’re hearing positive things about issues such as the economy, immigration, national security and public safety.  
• As was the case throughout much of the 2024 campaign, immigration remains the most salient issue voters are hearing about in the news, with over 3 in 4 saying they'd heard something recently about it.

• 51% of voters said they had seen, read or heard “a lot” about Trump’s pardoning of approximately 1,500 people convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack, more than the 41% who said the same of Trump’s inauguration speech or Biden’s last-minute pardons of several family members and government officials.
• About a quarter of voters (27%) said they’d consumed a lot of news about the passage of the Laken Riley Act, which requires officials to detain undocumented immigrants who are charged, arrested or convicted for burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting. The bill passed with bipartisan support, but its relatively low salience underlines Democrats’ challenge in showing voters’ their move to the right on the matter.