With Donald Trump finishing up his first year as president for the second time, there’s a new New York Times/Siena poll about his job performance.
Two things about it are not surprising.
One, his approval rating is not good. And, two, Trump is mad as hell about it.
The poll revealed a job approval rating of only 40%, while 56% disapprove. Only 32% — that’s less than a third — believe the country is better off since he became president again.
In practically every area — managing the federal government, the economy, Venezuela, immigration, relationships with other countries, wars in Ukraine and Gaza and more — Trump has support from less than half the country. The lone area where he has a slight approval (50% to 46%) is his handling of the border between the U.S. and Mexico.
But, overall, these poll numbers paint a dismal picture of the president.
In analysis for the Times, Nate Cohn wrote, “The major demographic shifts of the last election have snapped back. In today’s poll, Mr. Trump’s approval rating by demographic group looks almost exactly as it did in Times/Siena polling in the run-up to his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. If anything, young and nonwhite voters are even likelier to disapprove of Mr. Trump than they were then, while he retains most of his support among older and white voters.”
Again, Trump’s unpopular numbers should not be a surprise.
Also unsurprising? Trump’s reaction.
And what does Trump do when he is angry at a news outlet? He threatens them.
He went on a rather long rant on Truth Social in three posts: here, here and here. In the first post, he wrote:
“The Times Siena Poll, which is always tremendously negative to me, especially just before the Election of 2024, where I won in a Landslide, will be added to my lawsuit against The Failing New York Times. Our lawyers have demanded that they keep all Records, and how they ‘computed’ these fake results — Not just the fact that it was heavily skewed toward Democrats. They will be held fully responsible for all of their Radical Left lies and wrongdoing!”
Of course, the Times/Siena poll is a trusted one. This particular poll surveyed 1,625 registered voters nationwide from Jan. 12 to Jan. 17.
Trump continued his fit in the two other posts.
He wrote, “Something has to be done about Fake Polls! They are truly OUT OF CONTROL.” He then bragged about the U.S. having the greatest economy in the world, complained about the Democrats destroying health care among other grievances and then wrote, “The REAL Polls have been GREAT, but they refuse to print them.”
He then took aim again at the Times, writing, “The New York Times, and so many others, print Polls that are knowingly false. They have become deranged, and sick. They suffer from a major case of TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME (TDS). Their 2024 Election coverage was so bad, and so wrong, and yet they never get called out for it — But I am calling them out with the lawsuit that I have filed which is making its way through the Courts. They have to pay a price for FAKE AND FRAUDULENT NEWS and, hopefully, in the not too distant future, they will!”
He wasn’t done. He also wrote, “Fake and Fraudulent Polling should be, virtually, a criminal offense.” He would later complain about, “The Failing New York Times, ABC Fake News, NBC Fake News, CBS Fake News, Low Ratings CNN, or the now defunct MSDNC.”
Trump even complained about Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, saying their polls over the years have been “terrible.”
Trump’s playbook when he gets news that he doesn’t like or sees coverage that paints him in a poor light is consistent: he insults and threatens to sue.
As Trump mentioned in his Thursday Truth Social post, he is already suing the Times. After his initial suit was tossed out, Trump refiled it, claiming the Times, three of its reporters and Penguin Random House defamed him over the course of two articles and a book published in 2024. The alleged defamatory statements concern Trump’s rise to power and include reporting about his time on the TV show, “The Apprentice,” his family’s acquisition of wealth and his education. Both the Times and Penguin Random House have called the lawsuit meritless.
But that, of course, doesn’t stop Trump.
