‘Doing What He Promised’: Trump Gets Better Approval Number Than In His First Term

A majority of Americans give positive marks to President Donald Trump for the job he is doing in the first few weeks of his second term, according to a new poll.

Fifty-three percent of respondents to a CBS News and YouGov survey conducted last week said they approve of Trump’s efforts so far. Another 47% said they disapprove.

“That’s a better approval number than he ever reached during his first term in the White House,” said “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan.

Anthony Salvanto, the executive director of elections and surveys for CBS News, offered a succinct explanation for why so many Americans are satisfied with Trump 2.0.

???? CBS POLL: President Trump's approval rating is better than it has ever been.

"He's doing, in the eyes of the public, what he said he would do … 70% of people say he's doing what he promised." pic.twitter.com/O7Ze6lltJU

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 9, 2025

“He’s doing, in the eyes of the public, what he said he would do in the campaign. There is political value in that,” Salvanto said on “Face the Nation.”

In fact, the poll showed that 70% of respondents said Trump is living up to his campaign promises. Only 30% said  Trump is breaking from his promises.

Words used to describe Trump during the campaign, such as “tough” and “energetic,” are still being applied to him today by the majority of Americans, the survey found.

“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,” Salvanto said.

Pollsters, who conducted their survey from Wednesday through Friday, also asked respondents about specific policies in the second Trump’s administration. The findings were mixed.

For instance, 59% of Americans said they approve of the Trump administration’s program to deport immigrants illegally in the U.S. Forty-one percent said they disapprove.

Sixty-four percent of Americans said they approved of the Trump administration sending U.S. troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. Another 36% said they disapprove.

Forty-eight percent of respondents said they favor the use of large detention centers while determining who should be departed. Fifty-two percent said they oppose it.

Trump’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict received the support of 54% of Americans, largely driven by Republicans. Another 46% said they disapprove.

Just 13% of respondents said they viewed Trump’s proposal for the U.S. taking over Gaza to be a “good idea.” Another 47% said it was a bad idea. The rest said they were not sure or it depends.

On the economic front, 66% of respondents said Trump is not focused enough on lowering prices, 31% said the “right amount”,” while 3% said “too much.”

U.S. tariffs on goods from China received majority support while penalties on goods from Mexico, Europe, and Canada were below 50% favorability.

The poll found Americans to be largely split on how much influence they think Elon Musk and his DOGE task force should have over U.S. government agencies and their spending.

CBS News said the poll had a “nationally representative” sample of 2,175 adults and the margin of error was plus-or-minus 2.5 percentage points.