Sh0cking new poll exposes truth about Trump’s popularity as Speaker claims approval rating is at 90%

House Speaker Mike Johnson recently stirred political and media circles with a bold claim made during a CNBC News appearance. In a segment that quickly gained traction online, Johnson effusively praised former President Donald Trump, asserting that Trump’s approval ratings had skyrocketed. He went so far as to cite a “CNN poll” showing Trump’s approval at an astonishing 90 percent—a level no U.S. president has ever achieved.

However, the claim began to unravel almost immediately.

The actual CNN poll Johnson referenced, released on July 17, told a far different story. According to the official data, only 42 percent of Americans currently approve of Trump’s performance. Even more telling, just 37 percent of respondents said they believed Trump was focused on the “right issues” for the country—figures that align more closely with historical polling averages than with Johnson’s explosive assertion.

The error appeared to lie in a confusion between general approval and party-specific support. While CNN’s polldid show that 88 percent of Republicans back Trump, this figure pertains only to Republican respondents, not the entire voting population. Political analysts suggest that Johnson may have conflated or intentionally reframed the statistic to present Trump’s standing as more universally positive than it truly is.

Other reputable polls further debunked the 90 percent claim:

• A Reuters/Ipsos survey showed Trump with 41 percent approval nationwide.

• The Economist/YouGov poll indicated that 55 percent of Americans disapproved of his job performance.

• Even Rasmussen Reports, often seen as more favorable to conservatives, placed Trump’s approval at 50 percent—far below the figure Johnson cited.

Political commentators quickly jumped on the discrepancy. On MSNBC, anchors noted the “likely spin” behind Johnson’s statement, emphasizing how such misrepresentations can skew public discourse, especially when referencing respected outlets like CNN.

Historical data provides additional perspective. No modern U.S. president has ever reached a 90 percent approval rating from the general public, though George W. Bush briefly came close (at 89 percent) following the 9/11 attacks. By contrast, Trump’s approval ratings have consistently ranked among the lowest. In fact, his first 100 days in office yielded the lowest early-term approval of any president in six decades, hovering around the same 42 percentfigure reported in the current poll.

Presidents like Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and Barack Obama all saw peak approval ratings in the mid-60s to low-70s—but never close to the number claimed by Johnson. Clinton still holds the highest post-World War II average approval rating, peaking at 66 percent during his presidency.

Critics argue that exaggerating polling figures misleads voters and undermines trust in public institutions. Meanwhile, supporters of Trump and Johnson have brushed off the backlash as media nitpicking, with some suggesting that the speaker was simply referencing Republican base enthusiasm—not the broader electorate.

Regardless of intent, the moment served as a reminder of how quickly misinformation, whether accidental or strategic, can spread—and how essential it is to read the full context of polling data before drawing sweeping conclusions.