Change in Optimism: Majority of Voters (52%) Think Country is on the Right Track
The first Emerson College Polling national survey of the Trump administration shows the President beginning his term with a 49% job approval rating, and 41% disapproval. Ten percent are neutral.
“President Trump’s 49% job approval rating closely reflects his share of national support in the 2024 election, and his 41% disapproval is the lowest it has been in Emerson national polls dating back to his first term,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “All age groups have a net approval of Trump, including voters under 30 (46%-38%), except those over 70, who narrowly disapprove (49%-48%).”
A majority of voters (52%) think the United States is headed in the right direction, while 48% think it is on the wrong track. This is a significant shift from earlier this month when 67% said the country was on the wrong track and 33% in the right direction.
“The shift is rooted in a flip of Republican perception and lessening of independents who say the country is on the wrong track,” Kimball noted. “Earlier this month, 70% of Republicans felt the country was on the wrong track, now 87% feel it is headed in the right direction. The share of independents who say the country is on the wrong track decreased from 69% to 53%, while Democrats’ perception that the country is on the wrong track intensified from 62% to 79%.”
The top issues for voters include the economy (35%), immigration (16%), threats to democracy (15%), healthcare (9%), and housing affordability (6%).
- Concern for immigration is higher among Republicans, at 29%, while concern for threats to democracy is highest among Democrats, at 24%.
Forty-five percent support changing birthright citizenship so children of undocumented immigrants are not automatically granted citizenship, while 37% oppose changing the policy, and 19% are neutral or have no opinion.
“A majority of Republicans, 69%, support ending birthright citizenship compared to 25% of Democrats and 38% of independents who hold the same view,” Kimball added.
Voters are split on the Trump administration policy that reverses a 2011 law and allows ICE agents to enter schools and churches to conduct searches and make arrests, 45% of voters oppose the change while 42% support the reversal.
A majority of voters (56%) support a pathway for citizenship for undocumented immigrants in the country, while 24% oppose it.
“Hispanic voters are most supportive of a pathway for citizenship at 63%, followed by white voters at 57%, and 50% of Black voters,” Kimball noted.
Looking ahead to the upcoming 2025 Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, 35% are rooting for the Eagles, 29% are rooting for the Chiefs.
“Those in the Northeast are rooting for the Eagles, 50% to 19%, while those in the Midwest are rooting for the Chiefs, 36% to 26%,” Kimball said. “Democrats, Republicans, and independents are all aligned that they are slightly more likely to be rooting for the Eagles over the Chiefs this year.”
Methodology
The Emerson College Polling national survey was conducted January 27-28, 2025. The sample of US registered voters, n=1,000, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 3 percentage points. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, party registration, and region.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
Data was collected by contacting cell phones via MMS-to-web text, landlines via interactive voice response (phone list provided by Aristotle), and an online panel of voters pre-matched to the L2 voter file provided by Rep Data. The survey was offered in English.
All questions asked in this survey with the exact wording, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found under Full Results. This survey was funded by Emerson College.
