Terry JonesLove him or hate him, President Donald Trump’s favorability ratings have plateaued in recent months, despite violent demonstrations in major cities, the possibility of military action against Iran, and continuing concerns among Americans about “affordability,” February’s I&I/TIPP Poll data show.
Each month, I&I/TIPP asks voters questions about presidential leadership, the first being: “Overall, is your opinion of Donald Trump generally favorable, generally unfavorable, or are you not familiar enough to say one way or the other?”
This month’s online national poll, taken by 1,384 voters, showed virtually no change overall: 41% gave Trump a favorable “thumbs up,” while 50% rated him unfavorable. That compares to 41% favorable, 49% unfavorable in last month’s poll — statistically, unchanged.
The poll, taken from Jan. 27 to Jan. 29, has a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points.
But there was some minor reshuffling among political affiliations. Republicans, who gave Trump 80% favorable ratings and just 13% unfavorable in January, gave 77% favorable ratings and 17% unfavorable in February. So there’s slippage among his GOP support.
Among Democrats, favorability fell from 13% in January to 10% in February, while unfavorability remained exactly the same both months: 82%. But Trump did gain ground among independents, at 34% favorability in February, up from 30% in January, and unfavorability of 52% in February, down slightly from 53% the month before.
All in all, within many of the 36 demographic groups that the I&I/TIPP Poll tracks, there are sharp splits. They include:
Gender: Men (46% favorable, 46% unfavorable) and women (35% favorable, 53% unfavorable); Race: White (46% favorable, 46% unfavorable) and black/Hispanic (29% favorable, 57% unfavorable); Ideology: Self-described conservatives (68% favorable, 26% unfavorable), compared to moderates (32% favorable, 56% unfavorable) and liberals (19% favorable, 76% unfavorable); Financial status: Investors (56% favorable, 40% unfavorable) and non-investors (35% favorable, 55% unfavorable).
The schisms don’t end there. But the message is clear: America remains very much divided over Trump’s tenure, despite a dizzying number of successful initiatives he has pushed since taking office a year ago.
A second question I&I/TIPP asks monthly involves presidential approval: “In general, do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president, or are you not familiar enough to say one way or the other?”
Once again, as with the favorability ratings, there is virtually no change in the February numbers: 40% approve, 51% disapprove, identical to January — a minus-11% approval rating.
And again, the splits are predictable: Race, Party, Ideology, Income, Gender.
Party differences tell the story. Republicans show 77% approval, versus just 16% disapproval; Dems, just 10% approval, 86% disapproval; indie voters, 34% approval, 54% disapproval. A mirror of the American electorate.
Another question asked: Is Trump a strong or a weak leader?
There remains a difference, but not as large as in the other leadership questions.
Overall, 40% agree Trump’s leadership is either “very strong” (26%) or “strong” (14%), while 42% call him either “very weak” (33%) or “weak” (9%). The overall “strong” rating is statistically equivalent to January’s 41%, and the 42% February “weak” rating is likewise statistically indistinguishable from January’s 40%.
(Below: The TIPP Presidential Leadership Index measures public sentiment over time by combining three components: favorability, job approval, and presidential leadership. The index ranges from 0 to 100, with readings above 50 indicating optimism and below 50 signaling pessimism. In January, the overall index stood at 45.6 (Jan=46.3, Dec=48.4, Nov=45.9), with Republicans most optimistic at 81.1 (Jan=82.9, Dec=84.8, Nov=81.7), Democrats least at 13.1 (Jan=16.3, Dec 18.7, Nov=17.1), and independents in between at 41.4 (Jan=37.7, Dec=39.3, Nov=36.1).
The fourth and final question involves grading Trump on a wide variety of issues, 16 in total, with a final grade. The grades assigned are the familiar ones from schools: A (excellent), B (good), C (average), D (unsatisfactory), F (failing).
Overall, for February, 38% of I&I/TIPP respondents gave Trump an overall grade of A or B, compared to 37% the month before. Again, statistically a dead heat.
By individual response, Trump wins his highest marks for “Handling the immigration, border security situation” (40%), followed by “Handling violence and crime in the country” (37%), and “Handling of Venezuela,” “Restoring America’s Core Values,” and “Handling of Energy Policy,” all at 36% As and Bs.
Lowest scores came with “Handling of Healthcare” (29%), “Handling of Russia” (32%), “Handling of the Russia-Ukraine war” (33%), and “Handling the economy” and “Handling of China,” both at 34%.
Despite a stunning string of successes, Trump’s current ratings for leadership and favorability with Americans seem to stuck in neutral, neither falling nor rising — more or less.
Why?
As I&I/TIPP has noted, the sheer number of Trump’s presidential accomplishments during the first year of his second term has far exceeded that of any other presidential term in modern history.
A short list shows what Trump has accomplished:
- For all intents and purposes, he has halted illegal immigration, and nearly 2 million people who were here illegally have returned to their home countries.
- He reversed former President Joe Biden’s planned tax hikes on the middle class, while providing big tax cuts for the middle class, as promised, by making his 2017 tax cuts permanent with the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
- He created “Trump accounts,” which let people save money for their kids tax-free.
- He used tariffs as a tool to force access to foreign markets.
- He opened up exploration and drilling for oil, while undoing costly Biden rules that were intended to force people into electric cars.
- He cut taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security, boosting the incomes of millions of struggling working and retired Americans.
- He slashed inflation to a 2.7% annual rate, nearly halving Biden’s 5% average during his term.
- He removed illegitimate Venezuelan dictator and cartel leader Nicolas Maduro, while pressuring Panama to push China out of the Panama Canal.
- He launched military attacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities and has vowed further attacks unless Iran agrees not to build nuclear weapons.
- He helped negotiate an end to seven military conflicts around the world.
- He reformed or shut down USAID and other bureaucracies that funded corrupt anti-American activities overseas and in the U.S.
Of course, this is only a partial list of Trump’s achievements, which even his foes admit are dizzying in number and political reach. Not everything has gone perfectly, of course, but still it’s an impressive resume.
So why the plateau in Trump’s leadership ratings?
Part of it could be liberal bias among the mainstream media, which consistently underreports Trump’s triumphs, while focusing on his stumbles. Part also could be Trump’s own brash, take-no-prisoners style of non-stop presidential action, which some Americans — in particular, Democrats and independent voters — seem to dislike. Is it a question of style over substance?
Whatever the answer, Trump has almost a year to boost his favorability ratings. Like it or not, his popularity will impact Congress’ 2026 midterm elections. Unless he regains his footing, his final two years in office may be spent tussling with a hostile Democratic Congress, a recipe for political deadlock and conflict.
I&I/TIPP publishes timely, unique, and informative data each month on topics of public interest. TIPP’s reputation for polling excellence comes from being the most accurate pollster for the past six presidential elections.
Terry Jones is an editor of Issues & Insights. His four decades of journalism experience include serving as national issues editor, economics editor, and editorial page editor for Investor’s Business Daily.
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