Trump Achieves Record Approval Rating as Poll Shows Widespread Support for His Policies.
Despite a chaotic start that included mass firings of government employees, skyrocketing egg prices, a volatile stock market trend, and the escalating tariff wars being waged on nations worldwide, Donald Trump’s presidential approval ratings remained stable during his first month in office.
In an attempt to address trade imbalances and boost domestic industry, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum on Wednesday. Canada and Europe swiftly responded with billions of dollars in retaliatory tariffs.
Trump acknowledged in a recent speech to Congress that his presidency was getting off to a “swift and unrelenting” start. He talked about and defended many of his administration’s contentious policies, including his ongoing crackdown on immigration and border control, his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, his severe government cuts and mass layoffs, and his elimination of wokeness and diversity initiatives in the workforce and schools.
Since taking office in this second term, Trump’s job approval rating has averaged 46%, according to the most recent Gallup poll. His overall approval rating for his first term was 41%. His approval ratings thus far have ranged from 34% to 49% at any given point in both terms.
He received a favorable approval rating from 44% of respondents to a Reuters/Ipsos poll regarding his first month in office. According to reports, public opinion of his current position has so far remained higher than that of both his first term and former President Joe Biden.
According to the Reuters poll, 47% of respondents approved of his immigration policy, while 42% disagreed.
According to the ABC News project538 poll, as of Friday morning, 47.7% of Americans were in favor of Trump’s performance as president, while 54.4% were against Congress. It reveals that Vice President JD Vance received a slightly higher disapproval rating of 42.8% than those who thought favorably of him (40.8%).
The recent tariffs and the stock market’s erratic losses were sure to affect Trump’s approval ratings. These are the latest polls showing how Americans feel about Trump.
How popular is Trump as president in the midst of tariff wars?
According to a Wednesday SSRS/CNN poll, 54% of respondents are against his presidency, while 45% are in favor of it. On more specialized subjects, there was a noticeable difference in approval: 51% of respondents supported his handling of immigration, 48% supported his handling of the federal budget, and 45% supported his handling of the economy.
Trump’s handling of tariffs received 39% approval compared to 61% disapproval, indicating his struggles in the poll.
Following Trump’s 50-day tenure in office, an Emerson College Polling survey revealed that 47% of voters were satisfied with his job performance and 45% were not. Compared to the 49% approval and 41% disapproval rating at the start of his second term, this was a decline.
Note: Surveys are subject to change at any time, and different pollsters ask different demographics. As of 11:56 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, these figures were displayed.
Trump ‘Briefed With Options’ Amid Stalled Iran Talks
The Trump administration on Wednesday continued to express optimism about negotiations with Iran, even as Iranian officials insist that no direct talks have taken place, according to reports.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister said no face-to-face meeting had occurred in Doha and that no direct negotiations with the United States were currently planned.
Despite Tehran’s position, President Donald Trump described the discussions as “very good,” apparently referring to indirect contacts involving U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner communicating through third-party intermediaries.
Vice President JD Vance struck a firmer tone the same day, warning that the United States could escalate its response if Iran refuses to cooperate or takes actions that further destabilize the Middle East.
His remarks underscored the administration’s message that while it remains open to a diplomatic resolution, additional measures remain on the table if negotiations fail.
“If Iran attempts to rebuild its nuclear program, threaten its neighbors and support terrorism, President Trump has options to deal with it,” Vance noted, without elaborating.
Earlier, a Wall Street Journal report claimed that Trump had been briefed on several military options, including “all-out war,” but Trump said he wanted to give diplomacy more time.
Vance additionally stated that the US “dropped bombs on Iran because it fired on ships, and we used leverage to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”
He went on to suggest that the U.S. could take that course of action again.
Vance also said the current talks are “to discuss the details and flow of maritime traffic.”
The vice president, addressing U.S. military personnel at a naval base in Virginia on Wednesday, also said that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back decades.
“If you look at what our own intelligence says about their nuclear program, they are further away from developing a nuclear bomb than they have ever been since basically the last 20 or 30 years,” Vance said, though he stopped short of Trump’s claim that the program had been “totally obliterated.”
“What the president asks you to accomplish is to destroy the defense industrial base of that country, so that if they ever decided to rebuild their military, or if they ever decided to rebuild that nuclear program, they would be harmless to do it. You did that exactly as well,” Vance added, per the Times of Israel.
The VP went on to say that Trump is now “negotiating from a position of strength because of you.”
“If the Iranians try to rebuild the nuclear program, the President’s got options. If the Iranians try to threaten their neighbors or fund terrorism, we’ve got options,” Vance continued.
“But what we must never do is drop bombs just for the sake of dropping bombs. And that is what the president will never ask you to do,” Vance added.
“He’ll ask you to go to war, yes. But when he asks you to go to war, he’ll tell you exactly what you’re going for,” the veep noted further.
“And I think that is what you should expect out of your political leadership.”
“What I noticed about the people who are attacking the administration for negotiating is that they are the very same people who, for example, encouraged us to just go a little bit further and just drop a few more bombs in places like Afghanistan,” he said.
“If you go back to the mistakes that were made, those very same people refused to say what we were dropping bombs for,” he added.
“We dropped some bombs a couple of days ago… Because the Iranians were shooting at commercial ships… We applied some leverage, and we’ve had free commercial transit for the last three days,” Vance told the naval personnel.
UPDATE: House Passes Key Bill In Nod To Trump Admin
Washington — In a closely watched vote, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved the SPEED Act, legislation aimed at accelerating federal permitting for large-scale artificial intelligence data centers and supporting power projects.
The bill passed Friday by a narrow 218-to-213 margin, highlighting sharp partisan divides even as lawmakers on both sides recognize AI’s critical role in national security and economic competitiveness.
The SPEED Act targets reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. It would shorten environmental reviews that have stalled major construction projects for years and cut the statute of limitations for related lawsuits from six years down to just 150 days.
Supporters argue these changes are essential to meet exploding demand for data centers and reliable energy as AI technologies advance rapidly.
Republican lead sponsor Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas called the measure a national imperative: “The expansion of AI computing power for both civilian and military use is a national imperative.” He stressed the need for the U.S. to maintain its technological edge, especially against China.
The legislation drew public support from major tech players including OpenAI, Micron, and Microsoft.
Passage came after last-minute drama. Some conservative Republicans pushed for amendments protecting prior executive actions on offshore wind and other green energy limits. Democrats largely opposed the final version, with Rep. Scott Peters of California warning it codifies a “broken permitting status quo.” He said a more bipartisan approach may need to come from the Senate.
The House action pairs with a new Trump administration initiative: the U.S. Tech Force. This two-year program will recruit about 1,000 engineers and technical experts to modernize federal AI systems in partnership with companies like Amazon Web Services, Apple, Google, Nvidia, Oracle, and Palantir.
Together, the SPEED Act and Tech Force aim to address two major bottlenecks for American AI leadership: regulatory delays and specialized talent shortages. The bill now heads to the Senate, where further negotiations are expected.
This development intensifies the national debate over balancing rapid AI growth with environmental safeguards and partisan priorities in the race for global technological supremacy.
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