A slim majority of registered voters support President-elect Trump's efforts toward a second White House administration, according to a new poll.
According to the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll, 54% of respondents said they approved of President Trump's performance, compared to 40% who said they did not. The number of respondents who supported it was boosted by 91% of Republicans saying so, including 49% of independents and 22% of Democrats.
Nearly three-quarters of Democrats and about 40% of independents said they disapproved of the president-elect.
The poll comes as President Trump begins his transition to take the oath of office on Jan. 20 and announces various Cabinet nominations. These include Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as secretary of state, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R.N.Y.) as ambassador to the United Nations, and former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). This includes controversial figures such as the state. Attorney General and Fox News host Pete Hegseth will serve as Secretary of Defense.
Polls show that at least a plurality of respondents approve of President Trump's performance across most age groups, including majorities of 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, and 45-54 year olds. It turns out. Those in favor outnumber those against, with a slight majority of those over 65 in favor.
Trump's approval rating as president-elect is 12 points higher than President Biden's approval rating (42%), which the poll found, and is in line with polling levels over the past few months.
During his time in office, President Trump's approval rating in Gallup polls never reached 50%, and at times peaked at 49%. Pollster Mark Penn said the results of the poll were important for his ability to govern.
“His job approval rating above 50 so far is a good start. Getting above that level is critical to governing effectively,” Penn said.
With Trump's victory, Republicans were able to gain a majority in both houses of Congress, but the margins between the parties are likely to be narrow.
Among respondents, support for Republicans rose slightly from 46% last month to 49% this month, while support for Democrats fell from 47% to 44%. Just over a quarter of voters say the country is currently on the right track, down four points from October.
The pollster also found the country is sharply divided on a range of issues regarding the next president, including pending criminal charges. Just over half of respondents (53%) said Trump should still stand trial on the charges he faces, while 47% said the case should be dismissed.
Judge Juan Marchan is considering President Trump's request to set aside the conviction in the New York hush-money case, or at least delay the sentencing, which is scheduled for next week. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office said Tuesday it opposes the dismissal but remains open to freezing the case until President Trump leaves office.
A minority of respondents said they believed Trump was trying to unify the country, but slightly fewer said he was a threat to democracy.
The biggest concerns for Democrats in the second Trump administration are that the next president will act like a dictator, that the government and institutions have been irreparably damaged, and that the president has moved too far to the right. On the other hand, the biggest concerns for the Republican Party are the large-scale protests from the left and the political deadlock. .
The Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll was conducted Nov. 13-14 among 1,732 registered voters. This is a collaboration between the Harvard University Center for American Politics and the Harris Poll.
This survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. The margin of error was 2.3 percentage points.
