As Townhall has been covering, there's been plenty of polls showing good news for President-elect Donald Trump, before he's even taken office yet. During the gap of two and a half months in between Trump getting elected and taking office, the polls released show Trump at his best, considering the high approval ratings (especially compared to his previous numbers) as well as the sentiments Americans have about his incoming administration. And, as we get closer to the January 20 inauguration, the polls keep coming.
One recent poll comes from CNN, with the headline noting, "CNN’s latest poll found Americans are divided on how they feel about Trump’s next term. Here’s what they had to say." What the numbers actually show, though, is that a majority of Americans are feeling positive about Trump's upcoming term. Overall, 32 percent are "optimistic," while 19 percent say they're "enthusiastic."
As the opening paragraph goes on to read:
The American public is closely divided on the outlook for Donald Trump’s second term, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds, with 52% of adults expressing positive feelings, and 48% responding negatively.
There's plenty of other good news from there, though. By 55-45 percent, Americans approve of how Trump has handled his transition. This is a significant bump from November 2016, when Americans approved by 46-45 percent of the transition, and even more so from January 2017, when just 40 percent approved, while 52 percent disapproved.
Earlier on Monday, Harry Enten also discussed on "CNN News Central" how Trump is particularly popular among his fellow Republicans. While Trump had 80 percent approval of his transition among fellow Republicans in January 2017, which Enten acknowledged is "not bad," It's now at 96 percent, though, which Enten emphasized with an "oh my goodness gracious," also pointing out "you can't get more universal basically" than that. While 10 percent of Republicans disapproved in January 2017, it's now down to 4 percent.
It's Trump Party & his GOP opponents can cry if they want to...
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) December 16, 2024
1. Almost all GOP who voted to impeach/convict Trump are gone from Congress.
2. 96% (!!!) GOP voters approve of his prez transition, which is up 16 pts (!) from Jan 2017.
3. All 2028 GOP frontrunners are MAGA. pic.twitter.com/Nnr8knbZcf
By 54-46 percent, Americans also believe that Trump will be a "very" or "fairly good" president in his second term, as opposed to a "very" or "fairly poor" president.
Americans were also asked about their confidence in Trump to handle various issues. In all areas, a majority said they had at least "some confidence" in Trump. Those areas and the confidence levels included:
- Dealing with the economy, 65 percent had "a lot" or "some confidence."
- Handling the war between Russia and Ukraine, a half sample, with 62 percent having such confidence.
- Dealing with immigration, 60 percent having such confidence.
- Providing real leadership for the country, with 59 percent having such confidence.
- Handling foreign affairs, a half sample, with 55 percent having such confidence.
- Using the power of the presidency responsibly, with 54 percent having such confidence.
- Appointing the best people to office, with 54 percent having such confidence.
Such numbers are better than they were previously for Trump, and many of them are rather similar to what President Joe Biden's numbers were for January-February 2022. Trump's numbers on the economy are particularly favorable, not just in comparison to his own numbers in November 2016 (also 65 percent) and April 2017 (62 percent), but Biden's from January-February 2022 (50 percent) and March 2021 (60 percent). That makes sense, given that the poll's write-up goes on to mention that's the reason a significant amount of Americans say they're feeling optimistic. In the polls leading up to the election, Trump also enjoyed particularly high marks in how respondents believed he would handle the economy. Virtually every legitimate poll showed Trump leading Biden and then Vice President Kamala Harris on which candidate voters trusted more on this key issue.
Sixty-eight percent of Americans also believe that Trump "will be able to change the country," with close to a majority, at 48 percent, saying the change will be "for the better."
The poll's write-up spoke further to these positive feelings, including when it comes to these areas where Americans have confidence in the president-elect [Emphasis added]:
Among those who called themselves optimistic, the largest share, 22% cited economic reasons, including hopes for lower inflation or a reduction in the cost of living.
“Our economy has been on the decline for many years. I have seen what he can do for economy via his last presidency and I am excited,” wrote a Wisconsin Republican in her 40s. Other respondents to the survey wrote that they were waiting to “see if food gets more affordable,” or expecting “a lot of crushing regulations to be eliminated.” One wrote that the economy “has to start improving quickly.”
Another 19% who said they were optimistic cited Trump’s previous term in office. Many in that group regarded his first presidency approvingly: “Life was much better when he was president before,” one respondent wrote. Another wrote, “He did a great job the first time around and experience is an excellent teacher. He’ll do an even better job this time.”
One Republican-leaning Texan in his 30s took a less positive view of Trump’s first term but still said he was optimistic: “He will come to power and have to deal with serious problems so he will not take the presidency lightly like last time.”
Another 10% mentioned immigration policy, the border, or deportation, with 8% citing foreign policy, 8% an expectation that Trump would bring change, and 7% saying they felt that he would do a better job than President Joe Biden or other Democrats.
“No matter what Trump does for this country it will be better than anything done the past 4 years,” wrote a Republican-leaning Florida independent in her 80s. “This will include stopping illegal immigration, hopefully opening the pipeline again, stopping the transgender sports, helping the economy by bringing jobs back to America.”
Ten percent offered more broadly positive statements, with some simply describing themselves as optimistic people.
“It’s more of a personal choice to remain optimistic rather than something Trump has personally done to inspire that in me,” wrote one Texas independent woman in her 30s.
When it comes to those who don't have such positive feelings for Trump, it very much looks like they've bought into all the hysterical fearmongering that Democrats ratcheted up during the final days of the campaign [Emphasis added]:
One of the biggest drivers for Americans who express enthusiasm or optimism about Trump’s next stint in the White House is the hope that he’ll improve the economy, with many also approvingly citing his first term in office. By contrast, those who are pessimistic are most likely to cite concerns about his character. And a significant share of those who say they’re afraid of what’s to come say they’re frightened by the prospect of rising bigotry, weakened democracy, or the impact his administration could have on their own lives.
...
“When the president of your country is a racist, a criminal & greedy, people that match his outlook on life will follow,” wrote an Arizona woman, also in her 20s, who said she was afraid. “I don’t feel safe in America as a black woman.”
The share of Americans who say they’re not only pessimistic but afraid, 29%, outnumbered the 19% who call themselves not just optimistic but enthusiastic.
...
Among those who called themselves afraid, 15% described Trump as bigoted or expressed concerns that he would incite hatred among his followers.
“He is making changes that threaten anyone who has a physical appearance of being from another country, is a woman, or is disabled. Essentially anyone that isn’t him could be in danger,” a Democratic New York woman in her 60s wrote.
Another 13% described the president-elect as egotistical or self-serving, with 11% expressing fears that he would threaten democracy or attempt to rule as a dictator, and nearly 1 in 10 describing him as unqualified or incompetent.
“He will destroy this country from the inside out,” wrote a Texas Democrat in her 60s. “He is appointing people who are not qualified and are criminals, and people that owe him favors, and will do whatever he asks of them. He does not understand the economy and even worse, does not care as long as he is making money and has power.”
“He has said multiple things that make me believe he will become a dictator,” wrote a Democratic-leaning man in his 50s from Tennessee. “He thinks this is just another reality TV show and he will destroy our democracy as we know it.”
And 8% said they were afraid of how they could be personally affected – a group that included a trans woman living in Texas, a teaching student with a nonbinary partner, and a Black woman working as a Title 1 educator.
“I am afraid of me and my daughters losing our basic rights. I am afraid for the minority communities around us being targeted,” another woman, a Pennsylvania Democrat in her 30s, wrote. “Inflation is already killing us and it’s just going to get worse.”
Yes, the sentiments above shared from those expressing those positive feelings about the incoming Trump presidency are full of excitement and plenty of emotion in their own way, those who have negative emotions about the upcoming term are downright delusional. They seem to have picked up on the worst of the Democrats' fears being spread ahead of the election.
In fact, of those who said that they're "afraid" of Trump's incoming term, the most oft-cited reason has to do with "Racism/Bigotry/Incites hate," which 15 percent selected.
The poll was conducted December 5-8 with 1,011 adults. The margin of error for the full sample was plus or minus 3.8 percentage points, which means there being positive feelings associated with Trump's second term are just outside the MOE.
