People

• Trump's job approval rating has declined since he first took office, when 52% approved, matching the 52% high point he reached in March 2017, and 44% disapproved.
• At a similar point in Trump’s first term, 50% of voters approved and 45% disapproved of his job performance.

• Trump’s favorability ratings dipped back underwater, which has been the case more often than not since he took office.
• Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) face low awareness from the electorate, though voters are more likely to view them negatively than positively.
• In a broader sense, voters have similar views on congressional Democrats and Republicans. That’s a significant change from last Congress, when Democrats tended to be more popular among the electorate.
  

Policy

• Voters are most likely to want Trump to focus on costs for goods and services, and specifically health care affordability, following a campaign that was dominated by voters’ concerns about inflation.
• Despite his and Musk’s high-profile efforts with the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, voters have not become more likely to see Trump prioritizing a reduction in the size and scope of the government (47%) since he’s taken office, which just 29% of voters said should be a “top priority.”

• The bulk of voters approve of Trump’s handling of most issues, with the president receiving his best marks on immigration (55% approval) and national security (53% approve).
• Trump faces the highest disapproval rating when it comes to his handling of abortion (47%).

• Republicans hold big advantages over Democrats on trust to handle immigration, national security, and the national debt.
• Voters are much more likely to trust Democrats to handle health care, LGBTQ+ rights, abortion and Medicare and Social Security.
• Voters are closely divided over whom they trust to handle energy policy and taxes.

News

• Trump’s net buzz rating dipped 15 points underwater last week, tying a record low since he took office.
• Few voters say they’ve heard much about Johnson or Thune as the two work with Trump to plot his legislative strategy. 
• News sentiment about the two parties in Congress tended to be negative in the lead-up to the inauguration, though Republicans have generally performed better by the metric.

• Net buzz about global matters and international affairs fell 22 points underwater last week, the most negative we’ve measured since Trump took office.
• Following Trump’s inauguration, Republican voters are increasingly likely to say that they’re hearing positive things about issues such as the economy, immigration, national security and public safety.  
• As was the case throughout much of the 2024 campaign, immigration remains the most salient issue voters are hearing about in the news, with roughly 7 in 10 saying they'd heard something recently about it.

• 44% of voters said they had seen, read or heard “a lot” about Trump’s dustup with Zelenskyy, ranking it among the year’s most salient news events so far.
• 20% of voters heard a lot about Republicans in Congress working to advance Trump’s tax, immigration and energy agenda on Capitol Hill, while 12% heard the same about the potential for government shutdown on March 15.