CNN data guru gives skeptics a 'reality check' about Trump's popularity as US optimism 'through the roof'
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten offered viewers a "reality check" on President Donald Trump's favorability Tuesday.
While the media focuses on protests of the Trump administration's DOGE cuts and immigration enforcement, Americans seem to be more approving of the president.
Trump's net favorability rating continues to be negative, but Enten suggested looking at the polling in a different way to account for Trump's numbers historically being underestimated.
"I think sometimes it’s important to do a little bit of a reality check and take a little different spin at the numbers," Enten said. "Because all we talk about is how unpopular Donald Trump is, but in reality, he‘s basically more popular than he was at any point in term number one and more popular than he was when he won election back in November of 2024."
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"I think it‘s very important to compare him to himself, to understand he‘s actually more popular now than he was when he won, or certainly where he was at this point back in his first term," Enten said. According to his aggregate numbers, Trump has a net favorability rating of -4 now, compared to -7 when he won in November, and -10 towards the start of his first term in March 2017.
"So when you compare Trump against himself, he‘s actually closer to the apex than he is to the bottom of the trough. And of course, that‘s so important because Donald Trump, historically speaking, has had his numbers underestimated," he said.
Enten argued another metric is even more revealing about where Trump stands with the American people.
"Let‘s take a look at the percentage of the country who say that we‘re on the right track. It‘s actually a very high percentage when you compare it to some historical numbers," he said.
"According to Marist, 45% say that we‘re on the right track. That‘s the second-highest that Marist has measured since 2009. How about NBC News? Forty-four percent, that‘s the highest since 2004," he said. "The bottom line is the percentage of Americans who say we‘re on the right track is through the roof."
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He also showed the Democratic vs. Republican congressional ballot margin, noting that numbers in March 2025 are similar to previous years when Republicans won control of Congress.
"The bottom line is, yes, Donald Trump‘s approval rating is lower than compared to a lot of his predecessors, but it‘s higher when compared to himself," Enten summarized. "A lot of folks say the country is on the right track, and the generic congressional ballot looks a heck of a lot more like when Republicans win than when Democrats win."