--- title: Donald Trump Poll Numbers Hit Historic Low for Inauguration description: Donald Trump will have a historically low approval rating before he takes office on Friday, according to new polls. canonical: https://time.com/4636142/donald-trump-inauguration-polls-approval-ratings/ author: Madeline Farber article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-17T14:25:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:45:06.100Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump's Approval Ratings Have Hit a Historic Low Before He Takes Office og:description: The least popular incoming president in at least four decades og:url: https://time.com/4636142/donald-trump-inauguration-polls-approval-ratings/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0096c18177e069a4/6988b5e4cd1bba2289703a0a/trump-ratings-hit-low.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Trump Attends D.C. Dinner Aimed At Meeting With Foreign Diplomats og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump's Approval Ratings Have Hit a Historic Low Before He Takes Office twitter:description: The least popular incoming president in at least four decades twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0096c18177e069a4/6988b5e4cd1bba2289703a0a/trump-ratings-hit-low.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump's Approval Ratings Have Hit a Historic Low Before He Takes Office > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=0f5d4c90-2c69-451c-9cb0-b0c90ba514bf&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Madeline Farber](https://time.com/author/madeline-farber/) ## Madeline Farber Jan 17, 2017 2:25 PM UTC  President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at the Chairman's Global Dinner, at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC on Jan. 17, 2017. President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at the Chairman's Global Dinner, at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC on Jan. 17, 2017. Kevin Dietsch—Pool/Getty Images by [Madeline Farber](https://time.com/author/madeline-farber/) ## Madeline Farber Jan 17, 2017 2:25 PM UTC [Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump/) doesn’t [take office](http://time.com/4633094/donald-trump-inauguration-what-to-know/) as President of the United States until Friday, but his approval ratings have already hit a historic low for[ incoming American presidents](http://time.com/white-house-interviews/?xid=homepage), according to new polls. Trump’s current approval rating is 40%, the lowest of any recent incoming president, and about 44 points below that of President Obama, according to a [CNN/ORC survey](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/17/politics/trump-administration-approval-inauguration/index.html). And a [Washington _Post/_ABC poll](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-trump-draws-low-marks-for-transition-response-to-russian-hacking/2017/01/17/0926302a-dc25-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.b0e667811bb1) mirrors CNN’s findings: Trump will take office as the least popular incoming president in at least four decades, according to the survey. Meanwhile, Trump’s approval ratings for how he has handled the transition are 20 points below those of the three Presidents that came before him: Obama took the oath in 2009 with an 84% approval rating, Bill Clinton with 67% in 1992, and 61% approved of George W. Bush’s transition shortly before he took office January 2001, according to CNN. Trump dismissed the new surveys in a Tuesday morning Twitter post. “The same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls. They are rigged just like before,” he said. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/821344302651555840) While Trump’s low approval ratings are due to a variety of factors, his controversial response to Russia’s reported interference in the 2016 election has had a notable impact, according to the _Post_/ABC poll, with many Americans believing Trump has been “too friendly” to Russia. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4636142/donald-trump-inauguration-polls-approval-ratings/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4636142/donald-trump-inauguration-polls-approval-ratings/"},"headline":"Donald Trump's Approval Ratings Have Hit a Historic Low Before He Takes Office","datePublished":"2017-01-17T14:25:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:45:06.100Z","description":"The least popular incoming president in at least four decades","url":"https://time.com/4636142/donald-trump-inauguration-polls-approval-ratings/","keywords":["Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0096c18177e069a4/6988b5e4cd1bba2289703a0a/trump-ratings-hit-low.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Madeline Farber","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/madeline-farber/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0096c18177e069a4/6988b5e4cd1bba2289703a0a/trump-ratings-hit-low.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trump Attends D.C. 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