CBS News poll — Trump has positive approval amid “energetic” opening weeks; seen as doing what he promised

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.

His partisans and his voters, in particular, say he’s got the right amount of focus on matters like ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs and deporting those who are in the country illegally. 

His 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.

But one key issue looms: Most Americans say the administration isn’t focused enough on lowering prices. Inflation was a key reason Mr. Trump won the election. 

During the 2024 campaign, voters picked many of these labels in describing Mr. Trump, and today, the percentages for them find similar or higher levels among Americans overall. 

And a large majority say he’s doing what he said he would, whether they approve of him or not.

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.

Trump’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict draws overall positive marks, driven largely by support from Republicans.

One item in particular, the president’s recent comments about taking over Gaza, drew wide attention (most Americans say they heard about them), and very few outright think that would be a good idea. Others say it depends.

But the matter also opens more insight into how Americans view Mr. Trump’s approach. Most think his goal, at least partially, is really to open up negotiations for something else.

Most Americans today feel the new administration isn’t focusing enough on lowering prices of goods and services. Lowering prices is the one item tested that a solid majority of the country agree Mr. Trump’s team should be focusing on more. That includes almost half of Republicans, even as they say he’s focusing the right amount on a wide range of other items.

Those who today expect his policies to lower prices don’t expect it to happen overnight. Many of them think it’ll take at least six months.

The administration gets relatively higher “right amount”-of-focus support for items like ending DEI programs and cutting foreign aid, driven by large numbers of Republicans thinking these should be a focus.

The push for tariffs may be impacting public concern about prices. 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 more likely to think Mr. Trump’s policies in general will lead to higher grocery prices and won’t make them financially better off.

Republicans tend to think Elon Musk should have at least some influence over government operations and spending, though not necessarily “a lot” of influence, while Democrats tend to say he should have none, or not much.

That said, most Trump voters and Republicans in large numbers think the administration is more generally putting the right amount of focus on cutting spending and cutting foreign aid.

This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,175 U.S. adults interviewed between Feb. 5-7, 2025. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to gender, age, race, and education, based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as 2024 presidential vote. The margin of error is ±2.5 points.

More

Anthony Salvanto, Ph.D., is CBS News’ executive director of elections and surveys. He oversees the CBS News Poll and all surveys across topics and heads the CBS News Decision Desk that estimates outcomes on election nights

Source link