As opening day approaches President-elect Trump He received his highest favorable rating and half of registered voters approved of his handling of the presidential transition. However, a majority do not view his election victory as a mandate, and more believe it was a rejection of the outgoing administration rather than an endorsement of Trump.
The latest Fox News poll, released Wednesday, found that by a 13-point margin, more voters view Trump's win as a referendum on the policies and performance of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris (54%) than endorse Trump (41%). ). This includes 71% of Democrats, 64% of independents, and 34% of Republicans who say he was more disapproving.
Overall, 52% approve of Trump's handling of the transition, while 46% disapprove, which is the opposite of what was the case in 2017 when only 37% approved and 54% disapproved. Non-whites (+26 points), voters under 30 (+18), voters with a college degree (+17), Republicans (+16) and independents (+15) are among those with a more positive view this time around. Even approval among Democrats rose by 8 points.
While Trump describes his victory in 2024 as a mandate, a slim majority of 51% disagrees. About 4 in 10 (42%) describe it as a mandate, including 69% of Trump supporters (81% of Harris supporters said it is not).
Fox News Poll: Voters view 2024 negatively but have hope for the future
At the same time, there is popular support for some of the policy proposals discussed by the president-elect. Voters overwhelmingly support deporting all illegal immigrants (30%) or at least those accused of crimes (59%).
A majority supports ending daylight saving time (62% in favor) as well as extending the 2017 tax reform law (54% in favor). Smaller numbers support seizing the Panama Canal (42% in favor), imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico to influence immigration policy (42% in favor) and investigating those who prosecuted Trump (41% in favor). Least popular is buying Greenland (37% support).
Regardless of politics, the majority want compromise from the government – and they want more from it Democrats From Trump. By a 58-point margin, voters believe Democrats should look for opportunities to work with the president-elect rather than resist his agenda and cause division (78% compromise, 20% resist). They want the same thing from Trump, but to a lesser extent: 65% say compromise, 32% want him to advance his agenda at the risk of division.
A majority of Democrats and independents want Trump and the Democratic Party to find common ground Republicans They want Trump to advance his agenda but Democrats must compromise.
“While Americans clearly want Trump and the GOP to work with the other side to boost the economy, they are even more clear in their desire for Democrats to put aside any obstructionist motives they may have,” says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who runs the poll. Fox News poll with Democrat Chris Anderson. “Resistance 2.0 is not a popular position.”
When asked about their priorities for the new administration without a list, a quarter focused on the economy/jobs (13%) or inflation and rising prices (11%). Another 13% said immigration and deportation, while Making America Great Again (9%) and Trump's resignation (9%) rounded out the top five.
The compromise voters want may be difficult, because the only priority that Democrats and Republicans share is a focus on the economy. Democrats' top priorities are Trump's resignation (17%), the economy/jobs (12%), unifying the country (11%), and inflation (8%), while for Republicans, immigration/deportation (24%), and the economy/deportation (24%) ). Jobs (14%), Make America Great Again (14%), and Inflation (11%).
Tariffs have been a staple of Trump's campaign rhetoric, but only 1% of voters feel they should be a top priority, and another 50% believe imposing tariffs on imports would hurt rather than help the economy — up 11 points from September. Since June 2019, when the question was first asked, voters have been consistently more likely to view tariffs as harmful rather than beneficial to the economy.
When voters are asked how concerned they are about specific issues, inflation comes out on top, with 89% saying they are very or very concerned.
The second biggest concern is… Natural disasters Such as hurricanes or wildfires (79% severe or extreme). That's up 9 points since the question was last asked in 2018, a year that also saw historically severe hurricanes and wildfires in California.
Political divisions (77% very or extremely), terrorist attacks (74%), energy policy (72%), border security (67%), illegal immigration (66%), and gun laws (65%) round out the list of concerns. ), war in the Middle East (65%), climate change (64%), the Russian invasion of Ukraine (63%), and transgender issues (34%).
As with priorities, proponents agree only that inflation is a major concern. Democrats' biggest concerns are natural disasters (89%), climate change (87%), inflation (84%), and political divisions (83%). For Republicans, it's inflation (93%), border security (88%), illegal immigration (88%), and terrorist attacks (80%).
Positive evaluations of Trump and congressional leaders
The poll also found that Trump's favorable personal rating stood at 50%, up from 48% in October — an all-time high in a Fox News poll. Equal share has an unfavorable view.
However, compared to previous presidents, Trump only outdoes himself — in 2017, his approval rating was 42%. In 2020, Biden's approval rating was 59%, while Barack Obama's approval rating was 76% in 2009, and George W. Bush's approval rating was 58% in 2001.
Trump is currently doing better than his rivals in the 2024 election, with Biden receiving a net negative rating of -19 (40% favorable, 59% unfavorable) and Harris receiving a net negative rating of -19 (45-55%).
The next president's strength comes from 9 out of 10 Republicans rallying behind him (90% supportive), in addition to 4 out of 10 independents (43%). One in 10 Democrats (12%) also view Trump favorably, twice as many as Republicans Biden (7%) and Harris (6%).
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance It received a net negative rating of -3 (43% positive, 46% negative).
On January 3, the 119th Congress was sworn in and Representative Mike Johnson, R-Los Angeles, won re-election to Speaker of the House – his approval rating was -9 (28% favourable, 37% unfavorable), While his support rate reached 9%. -The third cannot evaluate it (35%).
It's about the same for other top congressional leaders: Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RD, has a -10 (15% favor, 25% unfavor, 60% can't rate), while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , D.N., at -16 (30%, 46%, 23%) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., at -2 (27%, 29%, 44%).
Elon Musk's opinions are diminishing, with his ratings down 9 points (43% favorable, 52% unfavorable) compared to -4 in October and +1 in 2022.
Fox News poll: Negative economic and political assessments of Biden as he exits
The poll asks for the first time about George Soros, and his evaluations are negative by 26 points (17% supportive, 43% negative), while 40% cannot evaluate him.
Overall, 26% approve of the work Congress is doing, a 7-point improvement since last February, but not the high of 34% over the past period. Biden presidency In June 2021.
Israel, Ukraine
By 22 points, there are more supporters of Israelis (54%) than Palestinians (32%), a record low and below the 50-point favorability in October 2023, shortly after the conflict first began. Support for Israelis has declined across the board since then, including among Republicans. However, voters prefer Israel over Iran by a wide margin of 66 points (77% support Israel, 11% support Iran).
The entire survey was conducted before Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement on Wednesday.
Voters give Ukraine (42%) one point over Russia (41%) when asked who would win the war. That's down from 10 points in May 2023 and 17 points in January 2023. Voters are also divided over how long to give Ukraine support in its fight against Russia: 48% say there should be a limited time frame, while 47% of the US say. Support must continue as long as it takes.
Click here to Cross tables and Top Line
The Fox News poll was conducted January 10-13, 2025, under the supervision of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), and includes interviews with a sample of 922 registered voters randomly selected from the National Voter File. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (114) and cell phones (638) or completed the survey online after receiving a text message (170). Results based on the full sample of registered voters have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. The sampling error associated with the results between subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, the wording and order of the question can affect the results. Weights are generally applied to the age, race, education, and region variables to ensure that the demographics of respondents are representative of the number of registered voters. Sources for developing weight targets include the American Community Survey, Fox News voter analysis, and voter file data.
