--- title: John Kelly Has Higher Approval Rating than Trump in New Poll description: White House chief of staff John Kelly has a higher approval rating than his boss, President Donald Trump, according to a new poll canonical: https://time.com/4998031/john-kelly-donald-trump-approval-rating/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-25T23:29:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:00:18.304Z article:section: Politics og:title: John Kelly Has a Higher Approval Rating Than President Trump og:description: According to a new poll og:url: https://time.com/4998031/john-kelly-donald-trump-approval-rating/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3adda90f366a69a0/6988d7ab86f68ebeb26e5c85/donald-trump-john-kelly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4942 og:image:height: 2780 og:image:alt: FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Trump snd DHS Secretary Kelly attend U.S. Coast Guard commencement in New London og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John Kelly Has a Higher Approval Rating Than President Trump twitter:description: According to a new poll twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3adda90f366a69a0/6988d7ab86f68ebeb26e5c85/donald-trump-john-kelly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John Kelly Has a Higher Approval Rating Than President Trump > Sponsored content. 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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 [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Oct 25, 2017 11:29 PM UTC  President Donald Trump and newly-appointed Chief of Staff John Kelly at the Coast Guard Academy commencement ceremonies in May 2017. President Donald Trump and newly-appointed Chief of Staff John Kelly at the Coast Guard Academy commencement ceremonies in May 2017.Kevin Lamarque—Reuters by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Oct 25, 2017 11:29 PM UTC White House chief of staff [John Kelly](http://time.com/4990521/john-kelly-donald-trump-soldier-death-transcript/) has a higher approval rating than his boss, President [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4997604/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-russia-dossier/), according to a new poll. The retired four-star Marine general has an approval rating of 42% compared to Trump’s 38% approval, [according Fox News’ latest poll.](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/10/25/fox-news-poll-storms-erode-trumps-ratings.html) The President’s approval percentage is the lowest yet in the traditionally conservative outlet’s polling. Meanwhile, 30% of voters disapprove of the job Kelly is doing as chief of staff, whereas a substantial 57% disapprove of Trump’s job as president. Of that 57%, just under 50% “strongly” disapprove. Republicans were a bit more positive on Trump: 69% approve of the White House Chief of Staff, which 83% approve of the President. But three times as many Democrats approve of Kelly over the president (24% compared to 7%). Trump’s approval rating in the poll rose 1% from August to September, reaching 42%. But his current standing is a 4% drop in the span of a month. Fox News suggests it could be due to Trump’s response to the [series of hurricanes](http://time.com/4985125/donald-trump-hurricane-maria-approval-rating-puerto-rico/) that plagued the southern United States and the Caribbean. Fox News says its poll was based on phone interviews between Oct. 22 to Oct. 24 conducted with 1,005 randomly chosen voters who were registered nationwide. Two research firms, one which leans Democrat and another that leans Republican, assisted with the survey. 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