On the eve of his State of the Union address, the numbers arrived before the speech ever could. A new CNN/SSRS poll places Donald Trump’s approval rating at 36%, a figure that does not merely suggest weakness but signals erosion — especially among voters who once floated between parties.
The survey, conducted between 17 and 20 February among 2,496 adults and released on 23 February 2026, captures a presidency under visible strain. Independents, in particular, appear to be moving away. Just 26% now approve of Trump’s performance, 15 points lower than at the same moment last year.
The slide is not isolated. It is layered.
Approval ratings often move in increments. This shift has been sharper.
Overall, 63% of respondents disapprove of Trump’s job performance. Nearly half of all adults, 49%, say they strongly disapprove. Only 19% strongly approve. The gap between those two figures — strong opposition versus strong support — offers a clearer measure of intensity than headline approval alone.
Even more telling is the question about priorities. Just 32% say Trump has focused on the right issues. Sixty-eight per cent believe he has not paid sufficient attention to the country’s most pressing problems.
No, no, wrong takeaway. They’re great at managing the economy for the 1%, the wealthiest in the country, at the expense of literally everyone else.
People need to stop missing that a large number of corporations are making out like fucking bandits right now.
Even if refunds are handed out for tariffs, the bulk of that will end up on corporate coffers as instant profit and won’t be trickling down to the workers anytime soon.
Everything is rigged to help the wealthiest do anything but lose.
So, in that respect, he’s doing a bangup job. People need to start recognizing when Republicans talk about a “good” economy, that they mean for them and their buddies. The Big Club that We Ain’t In.
If Europe really moves away from big tech and new trade deals are made around the US, then those gains will be short lived.
They won’t care because their goal is total ownership. Money is just a vehicle to achieve it.
The wealthy are multinational. They will just leave the USA, liquidate their companies and holdings here, and use their wealth to purchase new ones elsewhere. They don’t see borders the way we do, they are bleeding the US dry to leave it behind when they’re done.