Democrats may have been ranting and raving about President Donald Trump lately with particular desperation, but he continues to remain a popular president, especially compared to the start of his first term in 2017. A recent poll makes that even more evident, and in ways that were unthinkable not so long ago, nevermind eight years ago. The 45th and 47th president not only enjoys a net positive approval rating, he's also doing well with demographics one wouldn't normally think he would be.
As Guy covered earlier, a CBS News poll was released on Sunday, showing that Trump is not only popular with a 53-47 percent approval rating, but that his plans for deporting illegal immigrants and sending troops to the U.S.-Mexico border especially are. That's bad news for Democrats and performance artists like Selena Gomez, who late last month shed crocodile tears in a now-deleted video for criminal illegal immigrants being deported.
"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," the CBS News' write-up mentioned, which was indeed the case, although Democrats and liberal celebrities don't seem to have gotten that memo.
President Trump’s deportation policy finds majority approval overall - just as most voters said they wanted during the campaign - and that extends to sending troops to the border, too. https://t.co/INcnsT1DGn pic.twitter.com/k2PznJO5Ki
— CBS News Poll (@CBSNewsPoll) February 9, 2025
Support for the mass deportation program is supported by
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) February 9, 2025
📊 66% of men
📊 53% of women
📊 56% under 30
📊 55% millennials
📊 63% Gen-X
📊 23% Dems
📊 49% of Hispanics
Bringing media along to showcase the monsters they’re deporting was a brilliant move by DHS. pic.twitter.com/wM5MFLsISw
The media is in on other narratives as well. On Monday, The Hill made it the focus of their afternoon report that "Trump’s immigration agenda hits a snag." This was in reference to how yet another judge has ruled against the president's executive order from last month ending birthright citizenship, after other judges have already done so. There's plenty of arguments against birthright citizenship, including how we're one of the only countries to practice it, birth tourism makes it rife for abuse, and the authors of the 14th Amendment never intended to include the children of illegal immigrants. Such rulings aren't exactly surprising, though, as the matter is likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
There's also mention of a piece from The New York Times, "List: Examples of Trump’s Actions That Are Defying Legal Limits."
While The Hill did do a write-up on the CBS News poll, it was particularly brief, only touching upon the 53-47 percent approval figure, and making no mention of support for Trump's plans on immigration.
Unfortunately but not surprisingly, this is hardly the only time that the media has not exactly been telling the whole story on support for Trump, especially when it comes to a focus on Trump's disapproval numbers.
The support for such plans, especially on immigration, speaks in a way also to still another finding from the poll. Trump was quite open about his commitment to the immigration issue, drawing a strong contrast from the Biden-Harris administration on the campaign trail, and failed border czar Vice President Kamala Harris, especially when she replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee. Polls consistently showed that immigration was a top issue if not the top issue for the election, and that Trump had a healthy advantage.
On that note, another major takeaway from the poll, which is even included in that CBS News' write-up's headline, "CBS News poll — Trump has positive approval amid "energetic" opening weeks; seen as doing what he promised," is that he's doing what he said he would.
By 70-30 percent, a majority of respondents believe that Trump is doing the "same things he promised in the campaign." And, the poll also found that by 49-41 percent, respondents say he's doing "More than [they] expected." Among those 49 percent who say he's doing more than they expected, 61-39 say they "Mostly like" what he's doing.
That 70-30 percent figure, a sizable majority to be sure, was also discussed during Sunday's edition of "Face the Nation." Before bringing on CBS News director of elections and surveys Anthony Salvanto on, host Margaret Brennan stressed how Trump's 53 percent was "a better approval number than he ever reached during his first term in the White House."
Salvanto from the start highlighted that 70 percent figure, as he aimed to "keep it simple." Speaking about Trump, Salvanto pointed out that "he's doing, in the eyes of the public, what he said he would do in the campaign," adding "there's political value in that."
Further, the 70 percent figure is whether respondents approve of him or not. Salvanto also highlighted how people feel about Trump, which is that "there were words that he was described as being tough, being energetic," which we saw during the campaign as well. "And he still is today in big majority numbers. So, as people take a look in these first few weeks, there's been a lot of activity. They're getting that general sense of governance, and that's being reflected in these early numbers."
Just three weeks into his second term, 53% of Americans approve of the job President Trump is doing — a higher approval rating than he ever received during his first term, a new @CBSNewsPoll finds.
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) February 9, 2025
"He's doing, in the eyes of the public, what he said he would do in the… pic.twitter.com/QpubBSxwrr
There's still more findings from the poll worth highlighting, though, including the support Trump has and from whom. While Trump has an overall +6 approval rating, his approval rating is even higher among a demographic that tends to vote more for Democrats, though 2024 did see plenty of gains for Republicans, including with young people, especially young men. Early on in his campaign, even when it looked like he would be going up against Biden, Trump still made it a mission to court young voters.
Sure enough, Trump has a +10 approval rating with young people, as respondents under 30 say they approve/disapprove of him 55-45 percent. By age, only those ages 45-64 say they approve of him more, with 56 percent saying so. There's lots of talk about how he has improved since his first term, as this number would once be unthinkable.
The poll was conducted February 5-7 with 2,175 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. There's also a note that the "sample was weighted to be representative of... [the] 2024 presidential vote," which may be particularly relevant to how respondents recognize that Trump is doing as he promised.
Interesting numbers in the CBS poll. Trump is +10 in approval with voters under 30. pic.twitter.com/2hvQXrvOoe
— Andy Kaczynski (@KFILE) February 9, 2025
The latest CBS poll reveals a +10 approval rating for President Trump among voters under 30 - a historic number for a Republican president.
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) February 10, 2025
The Democrats have clearly let down America's young people. Trump's policies will restore opportunities and herald a new golden era for…
