(WASHINGTON) — Savior. Ungodly. Patriotic. Un-American. Great. Sad.
A hundred days into his presidency, all are words Americans used to describe President Donald Trump’s performance in office.
Responses run the full spectrum of possible assessments. On the positive side of the ledger in this ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll: “Excellent.” “Awesome.” “Outstanding.” “Strong.” “Best president ever.”
And among the more negative comments: “Disaster.” “Chaotic.” “Appalling.” “Horrible.” “Atrocious.” “Catastrophic.”
As reported Sunday, Trump has a 39% job approval rating in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates with fieldwork by Ipsos. That’s the lowest job approval rating at or near 100 days in office of any president dating back to 1945 (as far back as data are available).
Invited to use one word to express their personal reaction to Trump’s performance as president so far, some focused on their feelings: “Frightened.” “Excited.” “Horrified.” “Relieved.” “Worried.” “Angry.” “Confused.” “Happy.” “Devastated.”
Others couldn’t restrain themselves to a single word, with fuller comments further illustrating Americans’ sharply divided opinions:
“He’s doing a fantastic job of accomplishing all that we want him to and voted for him to do!”
“He’s a convicted criminal, he’s a horrible con man who thinks he’s a great businessman and he’s tanking the economy for some ‘give it to the libs’ reason. I did not vote for this.”
“Someone needs to step in and rein him in. He is overstepping his authority. What is really frightening is that the Republican leadership knows he is wrong and will not stop him. Fear of losing their own power.”
“He doesn’t hesitate to support our best interests. He stands strong, and doesn’t give in to those who try and take advantage.”
“He is not taking into consideration the seniors that are on Social Security only which don’t have the discretionary income to handle the drastic cost of groceries and other necessities.”
“He is a horrible human being who cares about no one but himself and is ruining our democracy and all this country stands for.”
“He is courageously taking fast action to do what is best for our country economically and with the infrastructure.”
“Total embarrassment. Too bad so many believed and for some reason still believe in him.”
“He is a bad seed.”
“Trump seems even more unhinged than last time, but what were we all expecting? I’m not surprised, but I am displeased.”
A few others reserved judgment, at least for the time being:
“Don’t know yet, need more time to see the actual results.”
“We will see how this turns out.”
Groups
Among people who disapprove of Trump’s job performance, some characterizations were notably negative: “disgusting,” “disappointing,” “chaotic,” “incompetent,” “disaster,” “horrific,” “terrible” and “horrible.”
Others: “idiotic,” “embarrassing,” “criminal,” “crazy,” “appalling,” “pathetic,” “outrage.” Still others described him as “dictator,” “fascist,” “authoritarian,” “unconstitutional.” And some commented on Trump as a threat: “destructive,” “dangerous,” “frightening,” “reckless.”
Among Trump approvers, on the other hand, common reactions included “excellent,” “great,” “good,” “strong,” “outstanding,” “awesome,” “fantastic” and “amazing.” Others were positive, but less effusive: “acceptable,” “alright,” “decent,” “fair,” “fine,” “OK.” Some approvers were decidedly unenthusiastic: “so-so,” “mediocre,” “meh.”
Some commented on the speed or extent of his actions: “fast,” “hasty,” “quick,” “hectic,” “rollercoaster,” “sprinting,” “too much.” Several said they were “surprised”; others, “hopeful.” Some commented on Trump’s style: “bold,” “aggressive,” “determined.”
In any case, one said: “Better than Biden, so far.”
Methodology
This ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll was conducted online via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel® April 18-22, 2025, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 2,464 adults. Partisan divisions are 30%-30%-29%, Democrats-Republicans-independents.
Results have a margin of sampling error of 2 percentage points, including the design effect. Error margins are larger for subgroups. Sampling error is not the only source of differences in polls.
The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates, with sampling and data collection by Ipsos. See details on ABC News’ survey methodology here.
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