--- title: Donald Trump on Approval Ratings: What's Melania's Secret? description: President Donald Trump wants to know the First Lady’s secret to her high approval ratings. canonical: https://time.com/4718270/donald-trump-melania-approval-rating/ author: Jennifer Calfas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-30T14:20:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T08:26:33.266Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump: What's Melania's Secret to High Approval Ratings? og:description: "She has to give us the secret," Trump said about his wife og:url: https://time.com/4718270/donald-trump-melania-approval-rating/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7976ee83ad3bb50b/6988c08a7cdbacc76ed57a93/trump-melania.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Trump Attends Women's Empowerment Panel At The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump: What's Melania's Secret to High Approval Ratings? twitter:description: "She has to give us the secret," Trump said about his wife twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7976ee83ad3bb50b/6988c08a7cdbacc76ed57a93/trump-melania.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump: What's Melania's Secret to High Approval Ratings? > Sponsored content. 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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=7b8bf00f-d860-4e3d-a483-33fc7eeaddf1&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Melania Trump: ‘The Time for Empowering Women Around the World Is Now’ [Watch (HLS stream): Melania Trump: ‘The Time for Empowering Women Around the World Is Now’](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qtIocm4p.m3u8) (1:44)  _Published 2017-03-29. First Lady Melania Trump called for the empowerment of women and tolerance of individuals of all backgrounds at an event honoring the winners of the State Department’s International Women of Courage Award on Wednesday in D.C._ by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Mar 30, 2017 2:20 PM UTC First Lady Melania Trump called for the empowerment of women and tolerance of individuals of all backgrounds at an event honoring the winners of the State Department’s International Women of Courage Award on Wednesday in D.C. by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Mar 30, 2017 2:20 PM UTC [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4710614/donald-trump-fbi-surveillance-house-intelligence-committee/) wants to know the [First Lady’s](http://motto.time.com/4716391/melania-trump-the-time-for-empowering-women-around-the-world-is-now/) secret to her [high approval ratings](http://motto.time.com/4697993/melania-trump-popular-donald-trump-poll/). “I shouldn’t say this, but her poll numbers have gone through the roof last week,” Trump said at a women’s empowerment panel on Wednesday. “What was that all about? Through the roof. She has to give us the secret, Mike. Right?” While Trump’s approval ratings have fallen since he became president, [Melania Trump](http://motto.time.com/4697993/melania-trump-popular-donald-trump-poll/)’s have increased. Fifty-two percent of Americans say they have a favorable view of the First Lady, according to [a recent CNN/ORC poll](http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/08/politics/melania-trumps-approval-ratings-are-way-up/index.html). Thirty-one percent viewed her unfavorably, and 23% of Americans never heard of her. That’s an increase from a 36% approval rating ahead of her husband’s inauguration. The President’s approval ratings [hit a new low](http://time.com/4714174/donald-trump-gallup-approval-rating-36-percent/) this week, [falling to 35%](http://www.gallup.com/poll/201617/gallup-daily-trump-job-approval.aspx). That’s below the all-time lows of former Presidents [Barack Obama](http://time.com/4653909/barack-obama-immigration-ban-protests/) (38%), [Bill Clinton](http://time.com/4496521/bill-clinton-balloon-drop-interview-trevor-noah-the-daily-show/) (37%) and [Gerald Ford](http://time.com/money/4116956/us-presidents-worked-paid-college/item/gerald-ford/) (37%), [according to Gallup](http://www.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/207416/trump-approval-rating-drops-new-low.aspx?g%5Fsource=Polling+Matters&g%5Fmedium=lead&g%5Fcampaign=tiles). ## Transcript [00:00] Together with the international community, the United [00:03] States must send a clear message the we are watching. [00:09] It is therefore our duty to continue to shine [00:14] the light each miraculous victory achieved by women. [00:19] All capable of trying, truly leading the change [00:24] to fight for those that cannot fight for themselves. We [00:28] must continue what once again to shine the light on the [00:32] horrendous atrocities. Taking place in neighborhoods [00:36] around the corner and around the globe. Where [00:39] innocent families are crying out to live in safety. We [00:44] must continue to fight injustice in all it's forums, [00:49] in whatever scale or shape it takes in our lives. [00:55] Together we must declare That the era of allowing [00:59] their brutality against women and children is over. [01:04] While affirming that the time for empowering women [01:07] around the world is now. We must begin now to [01:11] challenge old fears. Fight long- held for justices. [01:17] And stand up against evil and injustice wherever it may [01:21] be. As leaders of our shared [01:25] global community, we must continue to work towards [01:29] gender empowerment. And respect for people from all [01:34] backgrounds and ethnicities. Remembering always [01:38] that we are all ultimately members of one race, [01:43] the human race. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4718270/donald-trump-melania-approval-rating/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4718270/donald-trump-melania-approval-rating/"},"headline":"President Trump: What's Melania's Secret to High Approval Ratings?","datePublished":"2017-03-30T14:20:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T08:26:33.266Z","description":"\"She has to give us the secret,\" Trump said about his wife","url":"https://time.com/4718270/donald-trump-melania-approval-rating/","keywords":["White House","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7976ee83ad3bb50b/6988c08a7cdbacc76ed57a93/trump-melania.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Calfas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7976ee83ad3bb50b/6988c08a7cdbacc76ed57a93/trump-melania.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Attends Women's Empowerment Panel At The White House","caption":"President Trump Attends Women's Empowerment Panel At The White House","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/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4718270/donald-trump-melania-approval-rating/","name":"President Trump: What's Melania's Secret to High Approval Ratings?"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Melania Trump: ‘The Time for Empowering Women Around the World Is Now’","description":"First Lady Melania Trump called for the empowerment of women and tolerance of individuals of all backgrounds at an event honoring the winners of the State Department’s International Women of Courage Award on Wednesday in D.C.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/qtIocm4p/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-03-29T18:54:31.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qtIocm4p.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4718270/donald-trump-melania-approval-rating/","duration":"PT1M44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4718270/donald-trump-melania-approval-rating/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```