CNN Data Guru Says Trump’s Net Approval Rating Is ‘Underwater’
“It’s just not any good for the president of the United States,” Harry Enten said.
President Donald Trump’s standing with voters has sunk to new lows as he prepares to deliver a White House speech to ease public frustrations with his track record.
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten said Wednesday that Trump is “underwater across the board” in his net approval rating and it’s unlikely to get much better before the midterm elections next year.
“The report card is negative, it’s minus, it’s no good,” Enten said on CNN News Central. “Every single day since March 12, he’s been in the red—negative. That is, days in a row, 281."
“He has spent more time underwater than Jacques Cousteau, for goodness’ sake,” he added. “The bottom line is this: the American people don’t like what Trump is doing, and they haven’t liked what Trump is doing for a long period of time.”

President Donald Trump delivered remarks that were meant to be focused on the economy but meandered during an event on December 9, 2025 in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Enten went on to highlight the five key issues where the president’s approval rating has dropped considerably.
Citing his aggregate of polls and the Reuters/Ipsos poll of Trump’s approval rating, Enten said the president dropped 6 points on immigration, 14 points on foreign policy, 15 points on trade and tariffs, 16 points on the economy, and a whopping 29 points on the Jeffrey Epstein case.
“Negative, negative, negative, negative, negative,” he added. “It’s just not any good for the president of the United States, regardless of what he says tonight.”
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Asked whether there’s a possibility that Trump can turn around his poor approval rating in the next 10 months before the midterms, Enten said it’s not likely.
“If history is any guide, it’s not a good one,” he said.
The data expert noted three presidents who had negative approval ratings at this point in their terms and were unsuccessful in their efforts to reverse them: Richard Nixon, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.
“It’s just negative across the board for the president of the United States,” Enten said. “[Trump] is going to have to break history.”
“He’s done it before, but he’s really going to have to do it if he really wants to give his Republican Party much of a chance come the 2026 midterms,” he added.
Trump announced Tuesday afternoon on Truth Social that he will address the nation on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Eastern. He made the announcement only hours after a profile about his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was published by Vanity Fair, in which Wiles said the president has an “alcoholic’s personality.”
“My Fellow Americans: I will be giving an ADDRESS TO THE NATION tomorrow night, LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, at 9 P.M. EST,“ the president wrote. ”I look forward to “seeing” you then. It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!"
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