President Donald Trump, with the stroke of a pen, signed an executive order this week to begin the longstanding conservative goal of dismantling the Department of Education.
“Today we take a very historic action that was 45 years in the making,” Trump said at a White House signing ceremony. “It’s about time.”
Trump has been highly active since returning to the White House two months ago, flexing his political muscles to expand presidential powers. He has upended longstanding government policies and made significant cuts to the federal workforce through a series of executive orders and actions.
Since his inauguration, Trump has signed close to 100 executive orders, according to a count from Fox News, far surpassing the rate of any recent presidential predecessors during their initial weeks in office.
The president has touted that “a lot of great things are happening” and that “things are doing very well,” but it’s clear that Americans remain divided on his performance so far in his second term.
Trump’s approval rating stands at 49% in the latest Fox News national survey, with 51% disapproving of the president’s job performance. The survey was conducted March 14-17.
The Fox News poll is the latest national survey to show Trump’s approval rating slightly underwater, and it also highlights a significant partisan divide over the president and his agenda.
Ninety-two percent of Republican respondents approved of the president’s performance, while an equal percentage of Democrats gave Trump a thumbs down. More than six in ten independents said they disapproved of the job Trump is doing.
The president’s 49% overall approval rating matches his all-time high in Fox News polling, which he last reached in April 2020, near the end of his first term. This is six points higher than his approval rating at this point in his first administration (43% in March 2017).
Trump’s poll numbers were predominantly negative throughout most of his first term.
“The difference is largely a function of the consolidation of the Republican base,” said Daron Shaw, a member of the Fox News Decision Team and the Republican partner on the Fox News Poll.
“The party’s completely solidified behind him,” added Shaw, a politics professor and chair at the University of Texas. He noted that Trump’s current strong GOP support contrasts with the start of his first term, when he faced challenges with some Republicans.
Shaw highlighted that “Democrats were consolidated against Trump in 2017. They’re consolidated against him now.”
Pointing to recent polls indicating Democratic Party favorability at all-time lows, he said, “They don’t like their own party very much, but they all agreed that they don’t like Trump.”
While Trump’s poll numbers are stronger than they were eight years ago, there has been some slippage.
An average of recent national polls shows Trump’s approval ratings just below water. His numbers have edged down slightly since returning to the White House in late January, when his approval rating averaged in the low 50s and his disapproval in the mid-40s.
Contributing to the decline are concerns about the economy and fears that Trump’s tariffs on both allies and adversaries could spark further inflation. Inflation was a pressing issue that kept former President Biden’s approval ratings low for most of his presidency.
The latest Fox News poll, along with other recent surveys, points to growing skepticism about Trump’s economic actions and policies.
Shaw emphasized that the key lies with independents.
“If the Republicans are locked down in favor of Trump and Democrats locked down in opposition, it’s just independents,” he said.
Polls indicate that independents currently disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy.
However, Shaw suggested that “if inflation comes down a bit, if there’s some growth, those numbers are going to flip. That’s what independents do. They go with the times.”
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.
