President Donald Trump begins his second term with a job approval rating of 46 percent, a ten-point increase from the start of his first term, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. The survey found 43 percent of registered voters disapprove of his performance, with 11 percent offering no opinion.
A majority of respondents (54 percent) expressed optimism about the next four years under Trump’s leadership, closely mirroring sentiments after his 2017 inauguration. However, views on Trump remain starkly divided along party lines—86 percent of Republicans approve of his job performance, while 86 percent of Democrats disapprove.
Immigration and border security are key issues where Trump’s policies see strong support. Sixty percent of voters approve of deploying U.S. troops to the southern border with Mexico to enforce security, with approval rising to 70 percent among voters from military households. However, opinions are split on other policies: 44 percent of voters favor deporting all undocumented immigrants, while 39 percent support deporting only those convicted of violent crimes.
Tim Malloy, Quinnipiac’s polling analyst, noted the significance of public support for border troop deployment, saying, “The huge deployment of boots on the ground is not to a dicey, far-away war theater, but to the American border. And a majority of voters are just fine with that.”
The survey also asked about immigration-related policies such as birthright citizenship. Sixty-one percent of voters believe that all children born in the U.S. should continue to be granted automatic citizenship, a stance opposed by 30 percent.
In other findings, voters voiced disapproval (57 percent) of Trump’s decision to pardon individuals involved in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Similarly, 53 percent disapprove of Elon Musk playing a prominent role in the Trump administration, with stronger criticism coming from women and Democrats.
The poll, conducted between January 23 and January 27, surveyed 1,019 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points. Economic concerns topped the list of urgent national issues, with 24 percent of respondents naming it the most pressing, followed by democracy preservation (20 percent) and immigration (18 percent).
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].