--- title: What Donald Trump's Approval Rating Means description: President-elect Trump will take office on Friday with the lowest approval rating of any new president in at least four decades. canonical: https://time.com/4637388/what-donald-trumps-approval-rating-means/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-18T15:45:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:13:54.230Z article:section: Politics og:title: What Donald Trump's Approval Rating Means og:description: President-elect Trump will take office on Friday with the lowest approval rating of any new president in at least four decades. og:url: https://time.com/4637388/what-donald-trumps-approval-rating-means/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Donald Trump's Approval Rating Means twitter:description: President-elect Trump will take office on Friday with the lowest approval rating of any new president in at least four decades. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 00:52 video:published: 2017-01-17 section: politics topics: real estate auction, Donald Trump childhood home, Jamaica Estate Queens, property sale, divorce proceedings, birth certificate, presidential debate timing genre: news tones: factual, neutral, brief emotions: curiosity (medium), interest (medium), amusement (low) sentiment: neutral audience: general news readers, real estate buyers, political news followers, Donald Trump observers people: Donald Trump, Fred Trump organizations: CBS News, Roosevelt Hotel content_suitability: financial distress [00:26-00:30] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # What Donald Trump's Approval Rating Means > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=4350a6d2-db18-4f3e-9c27-f9e25110a229&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: You Can Now Buy Donald Trump’s Childhood Home [Watch (HLS stream): You Can Now Buy Donald Trump’s Childhood Home](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cVfdm81g.m3u8) (0:52)  _Published 2017-01-17. Donald Trump's childhood home goes up for auction._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary CBS News reports that Donald Trump's childhood home in Jamaica Estate, Queens, is up for auction with a suggested opening bid of $849,000. The five-bedroom house was built by Fred Trump in 1940 and is being sold by its current owners as part of divorce proceedings. The buyer will receive a copy of Donald Trump's birth certificate as proof of the home's ownership at his birth. Bidding is scheduled to begin Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Manhattan's Roosevelt Hotel, hours before the final debate. ## Key points - The suggested opening bid for the home is $849,000, which is lower than the price of Trump's other homes. (00:07) - The house is a five-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom mock two-door-style home in Jamaica Estate, Queens. (00:11) - Donald Trump lived in the home for the first four years of his life. (00:19) - Fred Trump, Donald Trump's father, built the home in 1940. (00:22) - The current owners are selling the house as part of divorce proceedings. (00:26) - Homes in the area typically go for upwards of $2 million, and this home is near the E and F subway trains. (00:30) - The buyer will receive a copy of Donald Trump's birth certificate as proof that his parents owned the home when he was born. (00:41) - Bidding begins Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Manhattan's Roosevelt Hotel, just hours before the final debate. (00:45) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:07] Home Goes Up for Auction. CBS News reports that the childhood home is up for auction. - [00:07 to 00:26] Price and Home Details. The suggested opening bid, the home's features, its history, and the reason for the sale are described. - [00:26 to 00:52] Neighborhood, Birth Certificate and Bidding Details. The location, the birth certificate included with the purchase, and the auction time and place are covered. ## Key quotes - [00:19] interviewer: "where Trump lived for the first four years of his life." - [00:26] interviewer: "The current owners are selling the house as part of divorce proceedings." - [00:41] interviewer: "the buyer will also receive a copy of Donald Trump's birth certificate as proof that his parents owned the home when he was born." ## Questions this video answers - How much is the suggested opening bid for Donald Trump's childhood home? [00:11] - Who built the home where Donald Trump grew up? [00:22] - Why are the current owners selling the house? [00:26] - What does the buyer receive along with the house? [00:41] - When and where will bidding for the home take place? [00:45] ## Content suitability - financial distress [00:26-00:30]: The home is being sold as part of divorce proceedings. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jan 18, 2017 3:45 PM UTC Donald Trump's childhood home goes up for auction. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jan 18, 2017 3:45 PM UTC President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office Friday with the lowest approval rating of any new Oval Office entrant in at least four decades, as his efforts to bridge divides among his supporters and his detractors have been a day late and a dollar short. Trump continues to take potshots at those who aren’t supportive of him, which is—at the very least–distracting from his agenda. But that’s the way the incoming president likes it. Trump relies on media firestorms to take the pressure off his policy promises and his disagreements with Capitol Hill Republicans, which are only growing in size and scope. Trump, who has manipulated and benefited from the New York tabloid scene for a generation, is taking the same approach to governing. So buckle up. As President Obama’s administration winds down, historians begin to assess his legacy. Obama will have his last opportunity to try to shape it while still in office Wednesday afternoon when he holds the final press conference of his Administration. Trump national security team gets off to a slow start. More House Dems plan to skip the Inaugural festivities. And Obama commutes Chelsea Manning’s sentence. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [10 Historians on What Will Be Said About President Obama’s Legacy ](http://time.com/4632190/historians-obamas-legacy/)As the 44th President of the United States prepares to leave office, 10 experts imagine how future historians will judge his legacy \[TIME\] [Donald Trump’s Cabinet Pick Invested in 6 Drug Companies Before Medicare Fight ](http://time.com/4636351/tom-price-drug-companies-investments/)More questions for Tom Price \[TIME\] [Trump National Security Team Gets a Slow Start ](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/us/politics/trump-team-has-barely-engaged-with-national-security-council.html?rref=collection%2Fnewseventcollection%2FThe%20Trump%20White%20House&action=click&contentCollection=Politics&module=Collection®ion=Marginalia&src=me&version=newsevent&pgtype=article)Little coordination with the outgoing administration \[New York Times\] [More Than a Quarter of House Democrats to Skip Inauguration ](http://www.wsj.com/articles/more-than-a-quarter-of-house-democrats-to-skip-inauguration-1484695518)Reasons cited include Trump’s comments about women, immigrants and Rep. John Lewis, as well as Russian hacking accusations \[Wall Street Journal\] [Donald Trump Is Venturing Into Uncharted Territory ](http://fortune.com/2017/01/17/donald-trump-by-the-numbers/)The new administration by the numbers \[Fortune\] [How Donald Trump Came Up With ‘Make America Great Again’ ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-donald-trump-came-up-with-make-america-great-again/2017/01/17/fb6acf5e-dbf7-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c%5Fstory.html?postshare=831484737469175&tid=ss%5Ftw&utm%5Fterm=.5f7f84e175cf)And he reveals his re-election slogan \[Washington Post\] **Sound Off** “I want to thank all of the people in the room. We have so many friends, 147 diplomats and investors, never been done before.” — President-elect Donald Trump at his “Chairman’s Global Dinner” Tuesday with foreign diplomats and top donors to his Inauguration committee “All I said was that I give everybody an even start; that’s all I said… So, I give everybody an even start; that right now, as far as I’m concerned, everybody’s got an even start. … I think people start off on a somewhat equal footing.” — President-elect Trump on foreign leaders in an interview with [Axios](https://www.axios.com/trump-toplines-2197570306.html) **Bits and Bites** [Former Apprentice Contestant Sues Donald Trump for Defamation Over Sexual Harassment Accusations](http://time.com/4636828/donald-trump-summer-zervos-sexual-assault-defamation-apprentice/) \[TIME\] [President Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning’s Prison Sentence](http://time.com/4636935/president-obama-commute-chelsea-manning-prison-sentence/) \[TIME\] [Watch President Obama Surprise Press Secretary Josh Earnest at Final Briefing](http://time.com/4636826/president-obama-surprise-josh-earnest-final-briefing/) \[TIME\] [Repealing Obamacare Would Leave 18 Million Without Insurance: Report](http://time.com/4636490/obamacare-repeal-congressional-budget-office/) \[Associated Press\] [The One Reason We Can’t Assess President Obama’s Place in History](http://time.com/4634649/president-obama-history-legacy-time/) \[TIME\] [George H.W. Bush hospitalized in Houston for shortness of breath](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/01/18/president-george-herbert-walker-bush-hospitalized/96707902/) \[USA Today\] [One President Out, Another In: You Don’t Just Hire 2 Guys With a Truck](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/us/politics/white-house-move-obama-trump.html?referer) \[New York Times\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4637388/what-donald-trumps-approval-rating-means/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4637388/what-donald-trumps-approval-rating-means/"},"headline":"What Donald Trump's Approval Rating Means","datePublished":"2017-01-18T15:45:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-07T07:13:54.230Z","description":"Morning Must Reads: January 18","url":"https://time.com/4637388/what-donald-trumps-approval-rating-means/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4637388/what-donald-trumps-approval-rating-means/","name":"What Donald Trump's Approval Rating Means"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"You Can Now Buy Donald Trump’s Childhood Home","description":"Donald Trump's childhood home goes up for auction.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/cVfdm81g/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-01-17T20:03:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cVfdm81g.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4637388/what-donald-trumps-approval-rating-means/","duration":"PT52S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4637388/what-donald-trumps-approval-rating-means/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```