Trump’s California approval ratings at historic lows, new poll finds
President Donald Trump’s approval rating in California is at “historically low levels,” a new Berkeley IGS poll released Tuesday found.
Thirty percent of voters surveyed said they approved of the president’s performance during his first 100-odd days in office, while 68% disapproved.
The latest finding in the April 21-28 poll of registered voters was well below the 39% approval Trump logged in March 2017, a similar point of his first term.
It is also the lowest such rating of any presidential approval surveyed since 1974.
Other than Trump, the previous low for a president at this point in his term was recorded by George W. Bush in May of 2001, when he received a 42% approval rating.
The highest rating went to Ronald Reagan, the former California governor, in April of 1981, at 74%. Reagan survived an assassination attempt the previous month.
While Trump’s standing is hardly a surprise in California, where the president lost three presidential elections overwhelmingly, voters also disapproved by big majorities his key policies and methods.
Nearly two-thirds opposed how Trump is changing how the federal government operates. Trump created a Department of Government Efficiency, with the help of billionaire businessman Elon Musk, to dramatically cut the size of government.
About two-thirds also were against Trump’s changes to foreign policy, and a similar majority believe his constant use of executive orders to implement change “exceeds his constitutional authority as president.”
Adding to the sense of gloom: 60% said they are not confident the courts can serve as a check against his actions.
Republicans in the state had some optimism that Trump and the GOP did better in last year’s elections than in the recent past.
The poll suggested any such gains were elusive. Institute of Governmental Studies co-director Eric Schickler said the survey suggested “the gains he made in the last election have not translated into broader support for his policies among the state’s electorate.”
“As such,” he said, “they do not do much to further Republican hopes that last November was the start of a broader rebound for the party in the state.”
This story was originally published May 6, 2025 at 10:19 AM with the headline "Trump’s California approval ratings at historic lows, new poll finds."
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