--- 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: 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. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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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=09610b38-5199-44de-95fe-e47bb65f3861&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  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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