RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. President Donald Trump has eclipsed Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln as the Republican president most admired by GOP voters, according to polling that underscores his enduring command of the party despite historically weak approval ratings among Americans overall.
Some 53 percent of Republicans named Trump as the Republican president they admire most, nearly three times the 18 percent who selected Reagan and more than six times the 8 percent who chose Lincoln, according to a CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
A separate Elon University poll pointed to the same partisan attachment, though by a narrower margin. Some 29 percent of Republicans called Trump the best president in U.S. history, ahead of Lincoln at 25 percent and George Washington at 14 percent.
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten reported on these results, both conducted earlier this year, on Wednesday, presenting them as a “reality check,” saying Trump remained “the sun on which the planets of the GOP revolve” even as he faced some of the worst polling of his presidency. Trump shared this report on his Truth Social account.
Recent polling from this month has placed his approval in the mid-30s: An Angus Reid Institute survey found that 34 percent approved of his performance and 58 percent disapproved, while Reuters/Ipsos reported his approval holding at a record low of 33 percent.
Even Rasmussen Reports, a pollster that has historically given Trump some of his strongest numbers, recorded an all-time low for the president in its approval tracker in June.
Despite this, the presidential preference results suggest Trump’s influence over Republican voters remains largely insulated from his difficulties with the wider public - a contrast that could prove consequential as the party approaches the 2026 midterm elections.
Newsweek contacted the White House via email on Thursday afternoon for comment.
The CNN/SSRS survey found that Trump’s appeal extended beyond his immediate predecessors: He was the clear favorite when Republicans were asked which GOP president they admired most, with Reagan a distant second and Lincoln further behind.
Across the full electorate, Trump ranked second among all presidents, selected by 19 percent of respondents. Obama led with 30 percent, while Lincoln and Reagan each received 9 percent and John F. Kennedy received 6 percent.
The poll was conducted from May 7 to 31 among 2,480 U.S. adults through online and telephone interviews. The full sample had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points, while the results among Republicans had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.2 points.
Elon University’s America250 survey produced a less commanding but still notable result for Trump. Some 29 percent of Republicans called him the best president in U.S. history, placing him ahead of Lincoln at 25 percent and Washington at 14 percent. The result was sharply divided along party lines: Trump registered virtually no support among Democrats and 6 percent among independents.
Among respondents overall, Lincoln led the Elon survey with 26 percent, followed by Obama at 17 percent, Washington at 12 percent and Trump at 11 percent. Reagan and Franklin D. Roosevelt each received 9 percent. Trump nevertheless performed better in a separate open-ended question asking which public figure best exemplified American democracy’s highest ideals, placing fifth overall with 7 percent.
YouGov conducted the online Elon survey from April 30 to May 4, interviewing 1,077 adults before matching the responses down to a final sample of 1,000. Its overall margin of error, adjusted for weighting, was plus or minus 3.95 percentage points.
Taken together, the surveys show that Trump’s grip on Republican voters remains strong even when he is measured against some of the party’s most celebrated historical figures. That loyalty, however, is increasingly at odds with assessments of his performance among the wider public.
Trump’s support among Republicans contrasts with his standing among the wider public, with several national polls placing his approval rating at or near the lowest level of either of his terms.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll which found that 33 percent of adults approved of Trump’s performance - his lowest rating in the organization’s polling – also found that 65 percent described the economy as weak, while 31 percent supported U.S. military action against Iran and 63 percent opposed it.
Ipsos surveyed 1,215 U.S. adults from August 21 to 24 using its probability-based online panel. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
In the Angus Reid Institute survey, Trump’s approval was highest among self-described MAGA Republicans, at 88 percent, while 61 percent of respondents who identified with neither major party disapproved.
The institute surveyed 1,525 U.S. adults online from August 6 to 11. The pollster did not declare an official margin of error but said a probability sample of the same size would have a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.
Polls have been known to underestimate Trump's popularity, with the president outperforming preelection expectations in three presidential campaigns.
Trump has also attracted voters who participate irregularly and can be difficult to account for in likely-voter models. Pew Research Center found that he won most 2024 voters who had skipped both the 2020 election and the 2022 midterms.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Robinson and Cristina Diciu.
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