--- 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: 2026-02-23T04:07:16.761Z 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump: What's Melania's Secret to High Approval Ratings? by [Jennifer Calfas](/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Mar 30, 2017 2:20 PM CUT  U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk into the East Room to attend an event celebrating Women's History Month, at the White House March 29, 2017 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk into the East Room to attend an event celebrating Women's History Month, at the White House March 29, 2017 in Washington, DC.Mark Wilson, Getty Images by [Jennifer Calfas](/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Mar 30, 2017 2:20 PM CUT [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4710614/donald-trump-fbi-surveillance-house-intelligence-committee/ "undefined") wants to know the [First Lady’s](http://motto.time.com/4716391/melania-trump-the-time-for-empowering-women-around-the-world-is-now/ "undefined") secret to her [high approval ratings](http://motto.time.com/4697993/melania-trump-popular-donald-trump-poll/ "undefined"). “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/ "undefined")’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 "undefined"). 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/ "undefined") this week, [falling to 35%](http://www.gallup.com/poll/201617/gallup-daily-trump-job-approval.aspx "undefined"). That’s below the all-time lows of former Presidents [Barack Obama](http://time.com/4653909/barack-obama-immigration-ban-protests/ "undefined") (38%), [Bill Clinton](http://time.com/4496521/bill-clinton-balloon-drop-interview-trevor-noah-the-daily-show/ "undefined") (37%) and [Gerald Ford](http://time.com/money/4116956/us-presidents-worked-paid-college/item/gerald-ford/ "undefined") (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 "undefined"). ```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":"2026-02-23T04:07:16.761Z","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":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/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?"}}]}] ```