Trump gets high marks for his first State of the Union address in snap polls


Two polls taken right after President Trump's first State of the Union address Tuesday night found that a majority of viewers had a positive reaction to the speech. In a CBS News poll, 75 percent of respondents approved of Trump's speech while 25 percent disapproved, while CNN's poll found that 48 percent had a "very positive" impression of the speech, 22 percent had a "somewhat positive" reaction, and 29 percent had a negative response. As with every State of the Union address, the president's supporters watched the speech in disproportionately high numbers relative to the U.S. electorate as a whole.
In the CBS News poll, for example, 52 percent of the 1,178 people surveyed said they were Trump supporters, 32 percent identified as Trump opponents, and 16 percent said they were something in between. Trump should be pleased that 70 percent of viewers had at least a somewhat positive reaction to his speech, CNN's David Chalian said, but that's still the lowest net approval rating for a State of the Union address since CNN started asking in 1998. Former President Barack Obama, who also got 48 percent strong approval for his first State of the Union speech, nevertheless scored a 78 percent net positive score.
The CBS News poll has a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points, while CNN's poll, conducted by SSRS among 549 viewers, has a margin of sampling error of ±4.2 percentage points.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Trump DOJ indicts New York AG Letitia James
Speed Read New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted as Trump’s Justice Department pursues charges against his political opponents
-
Judge blocks Trump’s Guard deployment in Chicago
Speed Read The president is temporarily blocked from federalizing the Illinois National Guard or deploying any Guard units in the state
-
Trump urges jail for Illinois, Chicago leaders
Speed Read The Texas National Guard begin operations in the Chicago area
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats