Ask A Genius 1254: Trump’s First Stint
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/02/02
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How do you feel about Trump’s first stint in office?
Rick Rosner: Trump is, as usual, making much noise. He’s taking harmful actions—although, on rare occasions, one might argue that not everything he does is disastrous. What I find most disconcerting about his first week in office (roughly six days) is that the initial surveys of his approval and disapproval ratings show marked improvement. Since he first announced his candidacy in 2015, he has consistently had more disapprovals than approvals—he was essentially “underwater.” Yet now, in this first week as president, several surveys (seven or eight in total, with only one conducted by a Republican organization) indicate that his approval ratings are between 6 and 17 points higher than his disapproval ratings. In one survey, for example, he scored 53% approval versus 39% disapproval—a 14-point margin.
I hope this trend doesn’t continue because it suggests that a significant portion of the population has become acclimated to, and even supportive of, his misconduct. When inaugurated in 2017, he was only marginally above water for a few days before quickly reverting to a state of overall disapproval. I still remember him falsely claiming—while boasting about it—that his inaugural crowd in Washington, D.C., was larger than Obama’s, a claim refuted by the photographic evidence.
That whole episode set the tone for people to disapprove of him—he was lying about things that everyone could see. Now, he’s acting in essentially the same way. When he was running for president, he promised to bring down the price of eggs and to resolve the war in Ukraine within 24 hours. Neither promise has come true; egg prices are at an all-time high, and he’s already backtracked on his position regarding Ukraine. Despite these failures, his approval ratings remain surprisingly strong. That’s worrisome because it encourages people to accept his shortcomings—as if to say, “let the baby have his bottle.” For example, Pete Hejseth, a blatantly unfit nominee for Secretary of Defense, was confirmed by a 50–50 Senate vote, with the Vice President having to cast the tie-breaking vote. Similarly, Christy Ngo, an obviously unfit head of Homeland Security nominee, was confirmed by a vote of 59 to 34. This outcome suggests that some Democrats are willing to allow terrible nominees. I hope people continue to hold him accountable and disapprove of actions that warrant criticism.
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