
Warning: This episode contains strong language.One question that has hung over the first 100 days of President Trump’s second term: Is his aggressive approach to everything from deportations to tariffs what most Americans want — or has he simply gone too far?In a major new nationwide poll, voters tell The New York Times exactly how they feel about Trump’s agenda.Nate Cohn, The Times’s chief political analyst, explains the results.Guest: Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The New York Times.Background reading: Voters see President Trump’s use of power as overreaching, a Times/Siena poll found.Four perspectives on Mr. Trump’s weak poll numbers.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Photo: Eric Lee/The New York Times Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Chapter 1: Who voted for Trump and who opposed him?
My name is Emily Haraldson, and I voted for Donald J. Trump.
My name is Darrell Davis. I'm a never-Trump Republican. I voted for Kamala Harris. I voted for Kamala Harris.
I voted for Trump. I voted for Trump. From The New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily.
I think the first 100 days has been great. I just wish he had more backing.
His first 100 days have been disastrous. probably the worst 100 days of any president in history.
The question hovering over President Trump's first 100 days in office is whether his extraordinarily aggressive approach to everything from tariffs to deportations is exactly what most Americans wanted.
I can see in the short term things seem a little crazy, but I think change is good.
The best thing he's done
Doge is, like, the best thing he could have done. Or I don't love all the tariff stuff.
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Chapter 2: What are the public's opinions on Trump's first 100 days?
Only 32% of voters approve of his handling of the case, 52% disapprove. And it's cases like Garcia, and there are other cases out there that have been in the news over the last month, that are dragging down his overall approval rate on immigration. If voters were instead focused on the huge declines in apprehensions at the border and
or efforts to deport people on stronger legal footing, I would guess that a majority of voters would approve of his handling of immigration. But because we're focused on this area where he's acting in defiance of the courts, and also clearly, in our poll's view, in defiance of public opinion, He has undermined what ought to be a relatively strong position on what has been his strongest issue.
So even on an issue that helped Trump win the election, immigration, what you're seeing in this poll is that there are lines voters don't want him to cross. And in this case, they think he has crossed it. And in the process, he's turned what could be
majority support for his approach to immigration into instead disapproval that's right if there's any theme from the poll it's trump going too far we asked this exact question on a number of issues his tariffs cuts to government employment his changes in general the political economic system on all of the questions an outright majority of voters say the president is going too far
Let's talk about those one at a time because they seem worthy of examination. Let's, for example, talk through Doge and let's talk about his handling of the economy.
Doge is probably the issue where Trump is maybe holding up the best. This is, of course, relative. 52% of voters say they're going too far with their cuts to the federal workforce. So this is his best issue that we're asking about. But even on this issue, he's underwater.
Okay. What about the economy?
Not good for the president either. Already, a majority of voters say the president's actions have made the economy worse. They say the economy has gotten worse over the last year. And one of the president's big strengths in the 2024 campaign, the idea that his policies were going to help you personally, has been reversed.
Voters now think his policies are hurting them and will continue to hurt them. Over the next four years.
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