Worst start to a presidency ever recorded, Brunswick Beacon

Brunswick Beacon, 05.08.25

Presidential job approval was first measured in 1938, when Franklin Roosevelt earned a 68% approval rating. Donald Trump just earned the lowest approval rating for the first 100 days of a presidential term of the 15 presidents rated since then. Trump’s 39% approval beat the previous record for the lowest approval rating of 42%, set by Trump during his first term. Are you sensing a pattern? 

It isn’t just one thing that makes Trump so unpopular: it’s everything. He’s underwater on his signature issue, immigration, where 54% disapprove of what he’s doing, like deporting a 4-year-old American citizen with cancer. Foreign policy is even worse, where 62% disapprove of such stupidity as making Canada an enemy. Trump hits bottom with trade and the economy, tied with a whopping 63% disapproval. 

Small wonder, considering that Trump unilaterally imposed tariffs making stock markets crash and erasing $11 trillion in wealth all by himself. Markets suffered the worst start to a presidential term in over 50 years. The value of the dollar against other world currencies has fallen sharply. Your greenbacks are now worth 9.5% less than they were on Inauguration Day. 

Trump’s handling of the economy turned a silk purse into a sow’s ear. Last year, the Wall Street Journal and the Economist called Biden’s economy “the envy of the world.” Now, as a result of what the Wall Street Journal called “the dumbest trade war in history,” consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level since the depths of the pandemic. Even worse, the number of people who expect employment to fall is at levels last seen in 2009 during the Great Recession. That’s why JPMorgan Chase predicted a recession later this year. And that was before we learned that the economy shrank by 0.3% in the first quarter! 

Fifty-two percent of Americans think Trump is a failure. The same percentage wants him impeached. Third time’s the charm. 

Michael Maisel 

Sunset Beach