Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Donald Trump has achieved a net positive personal rating for the first time, according to a polling average produced by RealClearPolling, which has been tracking his approval ratings since July 2015.The website gave the president-elect a net approval score of plus 1.8 percentage points on December 7, which rose further to plus two for December 11. This was a substantial improvement on this summer, when Trump had a negative RealClearPolling rating of -12.8 on June 25.On November, 5 Trump was elected as president for the second time, picking up 312 Electoral College votes against 226 for Democratic rival Kamala Harris. He won a clean sweep of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the seven battleground states that were widely expected to decide the election.The news will be a boost for Trump ahead of his second inauguration on January 20. With his party controlling both chambers of Congress, and a conservative leaning majority on the Supreme Court, the incoming president is well positioned to push through his policy agenda.
Donald Trump after a meeting at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on December 7, 2024. Trump has a net positive approval rating, according to RealClearPolling.
Donald Trump after a meeting at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on December 7, 2024. Trump has a net positive approval rating, according to RealClearPolling.
Magali Cohen/Hans Lucas/AFP/GETTY
Recent polls included in the RealClearPolling data include a survey of 1,593 American adults by The Economist/YouGov between December 8-10, which gave Trump a plus two favorability rating. Morning Consult polled 2,270 registered voters from December 6-8, with Trump achieving an approval rating of plus three.Between November 20-24 Rasmussen Reports polled 1,266 likely voters, giving Trump a net approval rating of plus seven. Rasmussen Reports, which has conducted polling for a number of conservative campaigns, was dropped by polling website FiveThirtyEight in March after it no longer met their criteria for reliability.Newsweek contacted Trump’s presidential transition team for comment on Friday via email outside of regular office hours.RealClearPolling first produced a favorability polling average for Trump on July 6, 2015, the month after he announced his longshot bid for the Republican presidential nomination at Trump Towers in New York. At the time, Trump had a net disapproval rating of -39.3 percentage points, with 62 percent of Americans viewing him unfavorably, against 22.7 percent who had a positive perception.Trump’s popularity increased dramatically after he won the 2016 election, with his net approval falling to just minus four on January 3, 2017, according to RealClearPolling. His rating then declined again, reaching a net disapproval of 21.6 percentage points on January 18, 2021, following the January 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot, when hundreds of his supporters stormed Congress in a bid to prevent Biden’s 2020 election victory from being certified.More recently, Trump’s net approval received a boost when he narrowly survived assassination at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, going from -12 percentage points on July 10 to -7.9 on August 8. Following Trump’s election triumph on November 5, which triggered a wave of memes showing the incoming president dancing to YMCA from the Village People, his popularity improved further, hitting a positive score for the first time on December 7.Speaking on Thursday, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said Trump’s incoming administration is expecting GOP lawmakers to “toe the line” to avoid landing on “Santa’s naughty list,” which could result in a lack of support at upcoming primary contests. Murkowski made the comments at the national conference on non-partisan group No Labels in Washington, D.C.