--- title: Trump Falsely Claims Higher Approval Ratings Than Obama description: Donald Trump cited a 50% approval rating, falsely claiming those number were higher than Barack Obama's canonical: https://time.com/4822956/donald-trump-tweets-rasmussen-poll-barack-obama/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-18T14:21:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:12:13.762Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Falsely Claims Higher Approval Ratings Than Obama og:description: The same poll showed Obama with higher approval ratings at this point in 2009 og:url: https://time.com/4822956/donald-trump-tweets-rasmussen-poll-barack-obama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0ee9d0e93331f4b/6988d22f7cdbac8475d58d4e/donald-trump-financial-disclosure-forms.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 Delivers Remarks On US-Cuba Relations In Miami og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Falsely Claims Higher Approval Ratings Than Obama twitter:description: The same poll showed Obama with higher approval ratings at this point in 2009 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0ee9d0e93331f4b/6988d22f7cdbac8475d58d4e/donald-trump-financial-disclosure-forms.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Says He Has Higher Approval Ratings Than Obama. That’s Not True > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 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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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### 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.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jun 18, 2017 2:21 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about policy changes he is making toward Cuba at the Manuel Artime Theater in the Little Havana neighborhood on June 16, 2017 in Miami, Florida. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about policy changes he is making toward Cuba at the Manuel Artime Theater in the Little Havana neighborhood on June 16, 2017 in Miami, Florida.Joe Raedle—Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Jun 18, 2017 2:21 PM UTC [President Donald Trump ](http://time.com/4785127/michael-temer-nicolas-maduro-donald-trump/)unleashed a series of tweets Sunday morning, touting a poll that showed him with a 50% approval rating, which he said was higher than his predecessor. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/876394578777174021) But that wasn’t all true. The [Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking poll](http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public%5Fcontent/politics/political%5Fupdates/prez%5Ftrack%5Fjun16) did show President Trump with a 50% approval rating on Friday, June 16 — the first time Trump had reached this high of an approval rating since April, the pollsters noted. But on June 16, 2009, [then-President Obama ](http://time.com/4792761/barack-obama-vacation-list/)had a 56% approval rating [under the same poll.](http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public%5Fcontent/politics/obama%5Fadministration/obama%5Fapproval%5Findex%5Fhistory) And on June 18, 2009, Obama had a 55% approval rating. [Other polls](http://time.com/4756987/fox-news-poll-donald-trump-100-days-re-elect/?iid=sr-link5) show Trump with much lower approval ratings than all of his predecessors, not just Barack Obama. As of June 13, the [Gallup daily tracking poll](http://www.gallup.com/poll/201617/gallup-daily-trump-job-approval.aspx) showed that just 36% approve of the job Trump is doing as President, while 60% disapprove. The poll provides daily approval ratings dating back to Harry Truman, and Trump is the only President to hit a 60% disapproval rating within the first four-and-a-half months of his presidency. On Sunday, Trump also called Rasmussen “one of the most accurate polls” of the 2016 election, but they inaccurately predicted a [Clinton electoral college victory](http://%29http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public%5Fcontent/political%5Fcommentary/commentary%5Fby%5Flarry%5Fj%5Fsabato/our%5Ffinal%5F2016%5Fpicks) — as many polls did. In August 2016, [Rasmussen Reports](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/pollster-ratings/) received a C+ overall from _FiveThirtyEight_‘s Nate Silver. Gallup received a B-. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4822956/donald-trump-tweets-rasmussen-poll-barack-obama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4822956/donald-trump-tweets-rasmussen-poll-barack-obama/"},"headline":"President Trump Says He Has Higher Approval Ratings Than Obama. 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