CBS Poll: Trump Is Popular, but One of His Top Priorities Is Even More So

Donald Trump is entering his fourth week of his eventful and tumultuous second term. Critics have emerged in full throat, opposing and criticizing much of what his administration has been up to over the last 20-plus days. So far, the 'honeymoon period' that Trump has enjoyed with voters since he won in November -- which he never received in 2016 and 2017 -- appears to be continuing, amid the controversy. CBS News put out new national polling yesterday that showed Trump maintaining majority approval of his job performance. There are some less positive data points, but others are even stronger for the president and his agenda. Here's the overall approval number, broken down by a few demographic groups:

CBS Poll: President Trump Approval

🟢 Approve: 53% (+6)
🔴 Disapprove: 47%

The highest approval rating for President Trump in CBS polling history
——
• Ages 18-29: 55-45 (+10)
• Ages 30-44: 52-48 (+4)
• Ages 45-64: 56-44 (+12)
• Ages 65+: 50-50 (=)
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• White: 61-39 (+22)… pic.twitter.com/v6lTSZTOMN
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) February 9, 2025

Remember, Trump was underwater throughout his entire first term on this metric, often by double digit margins. To be (+6) in this survey, including virtually even among Hispanics and independents (and +10 among the youngest voters, for now) is a dramatic change is fortunes, thus far. On policy, Trump's tariff plans aren't nearly as popular as he is, with one notable exception:

Tariffs on countries besides China aren't popular with most, and nearly three in four think new tariffs on imported goods would generally lead to price increases. (And not necessarily to more jobs or stopping fentanyl.)

People who think tariffs would lead to higher prices are… pic.twitter.com/JnTZ1HvqgN
— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) February 9, 2025

Tariffs against allied countries aren't supported by the public, and it's worth noting that concessions from both Canada and Mexico's respective governments have paused the initial batch of heavy tariffs Trump imposed. But when it comes to adversary China, given their vast espionage, intellectual property crime, unfair trading practices, and human rights violations, there's a much stronger appetite for using a stick against that regime. As for Trump's signature immigration issue, voters are on board for the big ticket items:

With most describing him as "tough," "energetic," "focused" and "effective" — and as doing what he'd promised during his campaign — President Trump has started his term with net positive marks from Americans overall. Many say he's doing more than they expected — and of those who say this, most like what they see. Very few think he's doing less...During the campaign most voters — and overwhelmingly, Trump voters — supported the idea of his new mass deportation program. So, today's approval of the current program remains in alignment with that sentiment. Comparably more Americans are in favor of sending U.S. troops to the border. And while they are split on the idea of creating large detention centers where people would be kept, Mr. Trump's 2024 voters are strongly in favor of that.

We'll have more to say about immigration and deportations later today, but these are sky high numbers, especially considering how hostile most voters were to Trump's related agenda during his first four years. A full Joe Biden term, and 10 million illegal crossings later, things have changed. A few more additional notes from the poll: An eight-point majority favors Trump's approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict, by a margin of 54-46 percent. But just 13 percent say taking over Gaza would be a 'good idea,' reflecting deep skepticism of Trump's latest plan. Voters are split on Elon Musk and DOGE's influence, with 51 percent saying that operation should have 'a lot' or 'some' influence over federal operations and spending. The remaining 49 percent say said influence should be 'not much' or 'none,' with nearly half of Democrats choosing the latter option. Musk posted this message on Twitter/X over the weekend:

To be clear, what the @DOGE team and @USTreasury have jointly agreed makes sense is the following:
- Require that all outgoing government payments have a payment categorization code, which is necessary in order to pass financial audits. This is frequently left blank, making audits almost impossible.
- All payments must also include a rationale for the payment in the comment field, which is currently left blank. Importantly, we are not yet applying ANY judgment to this rationale, but simply requiring that SOME attempt be made to explain the payment more than NOTHING!
- The DO-NOT-PAY list of entities known to be fraudulent or people who are dead or are probable fronts for terrorist organizations or do not match Congressional appropriations must actually be implemented and not ignored. Also, it can currently take up to a year to get on this list, which is far too long. This list should be updated at least weekly, if not daily.
The above super obvious and necessary changes are being implemented by existing, long-time career government employees, not anyone from @DOGE. It is ridiculous that these changes didn’t exist already!Yesterday, I was told that there are currently over $100B/year of entitlements payments to individuals with no SSN or even a temporary ID number. If accurate, this is extremely suspicious. When I asked if anyone at Treasury had a rough guess for what percentage of that number is unequivocal and obvious fraud, the consensus in the room was about half, so $50B/year or $1B/week!! This is utterly insane and must be addressed immediately.

Finally, one potential red flag is that a super-majority of voters (fully 66 percent) say Trump is not focusing enough on lowering prices, which was a lethal issue for the Democratic ticket in November. One thing that's clear, however, is that the first term's widespread cultural resistance to 'normalizing' Trump and his administration simply does not have the same prevalence or resonance anymore. Case in point: