Donald Trump hits highest approval he’s ever had as president, according to poll
US President Donald Trump has reached his highest approval rating yet, as a poll revealed more Americans say the US is the best it’s been in decades.
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US President Donald Trump has hit the highest approval rating he’s ever had in the top job, while more Americans say the country is on the right track than at any point since 2004.
According to the poll by NBC, voters generally felt Mr Trump is bringing “the right kind of change” on the key issues — even tariffs.
More Americans also said they supported his changes to trade policy (41 per cent) than oppose it (38 per cent).
That’s despite last week’s stock market sell-off as Wall Street reacted to Mr Trump’s decision to impose 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on Canada and Mexico, along with a 20 per cent tariff on China.
On other key issues, voter sentiment remained similar, with Mr Trump’s border policies being the most popular—56 per cent viewed them as a positive change. Regarding government cuts, 47 per cent approved of his actions, while 29 per cent opposed them.
Even on more contentious policies, like his handling of the Ukraine war and NATO, more respondents approved (41 per cent and 40 per cent) than opposed.
Mr Trump also holds a 90 per cent approval rating among Republicans, but just 4 per cent among Democrats, according to the poll.
That’s the largest gap in approval ratings between a president’s party and the opposition party over the last 80 years, NBC assessed.
Trump’s approval rating is well above his 44 per cent standing at this point in his first term, according to RCP, but remains lower than Joe Biden’s 53 per cent at the same time in his presidency.
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US STRIKES IN YEMEN WERE ‘LONG OVERDUE’
It comes as the White House shared images of Mr Trump watching on a computer the deadly strike against Houthi rebels in Yemen, as the administration revealed it informed Russia about the attacks in an effort to bolster diplomatic communications, according to a report.
Photos of President Trump watching “hell” unleashed on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen were circulated by the White House on X.
Mr Trump was dressed in golfing attire, wore a large black headset and donned a red MAGA hat that appeared emblazoned with his own autograph on its brim in the first shared photo.
President Trump is taking action against the Houthis to defend US shipping assets and deter terrorist threats.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 15, 2025
For too long American economic & national threats have been under assault by the Houthis. Not under this presidency. pic.twitter.com/FLC0E8Xkly
Those first US strikes against Yemen’s Houthis since Mr Trump took office killed 31 people, the rebels said.
The Houthis, who have attacked Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war, said children were among those killed.
But former British commander Richard Kemp said US airstrikes on Houthi rebels are “long overdue”.
“It’s long overdue, the attacks that we saw tonight … attacks quite severe by US airstrikes, including drones, I believe, against the Houthis,” Mr Kemp told Sky News Australia.
“My understanding is that their target was against the Houthi leadership – they were trying to take out as many of the leaders as they could in this particular strike, which, I believe, is going to keep going on.”
Attacks on Sanaa, as well as on areas Al-Bayda and Radaa, killed at least 31 people and wounded 101, “most of whom were children and women”, Houthi health ministry spokesperson Anis Al-Asbahi said.
Footage on Houthi media showed children and a woman among those being treated in a hospital emergency room, including a dazed girl with blackened legs wrapped in bandages.
The Houthis vowed the strikes “will not pass without response”, while Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi condemned the deaths and said Washington had “no authority” to dictate Tehran’s foreign policy.
The Houthi Ansarullah website slammed what it called Washington’s “criminal brutality”.
US Central Command, which posted videos of fighter jets taking off and a bomb demolishing a compound, said “precision strikes” were launched to “defend American interests, deter enemies, and restore freedom of navigation”.
Yemenis described their panic and fear at the intense US strikes, even after years of conflict.
“The house shook, the windows shattered, and my family and I were terrified,” said one father of two who gave his name as Ahmed.
“I’ve been living in Sanaa for 10 years, hearing shelling throughout the war. By God, I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”
Another Yemeni father of three, who gave his name as Malik, said his “children were screaming and crying in my arms”.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever said the Shahada,” he recalled, referring to the prayer that is recited before death.
The Houthis’ political bureau said its “forces are fully prepared to confront escalation with escalation”.
The rebels, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the “axis of resistance” of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the United States.
They have launched scores of drone and missile attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the Houthis had “attacked US warships 174 times and commercial vessels 145 times since 2023”.
The campaign put a major strain on the vital route, which normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, forcing many companies to take a costly detour around southern Africa.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration reclassified the Houthis as a “foreign terrorist organisation”, banning any US interaction with it.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
“Continued Houthi attacks on US military and commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea will not be tolerated,” Mr Rubio told Mr Lavrov, according to the State Department.
The Houthis captured Sanaa in 2014 and were poised to overrun most of the rest of the country before a Saudi-led coalition intervened.
The war devastated the already impoverished nation.
Fighting has largely been on hold since a 2022 ceasefire, but the promised peace process has stalled in the face of Houthi attacks on Israel and Israel-linked shipping.
TRUMP SLAPPED IN FACE BY MIC
A video of Mr Trump being inadvertently struck in the face by a boom microphone during an interview with media has gone viral on social media.
The accident happened as Mr Trump fielded questions from reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
The fuzzy end of the microphone hit Mr Trump in the side of the face near his mouth, prompting him to lean back, close his eyes and raise his eyebrows. The woman holding the microphone can be heard saying “I’m sorry”, although Mr Trump offered no response.
He turned to someone else and said: “She just became a big story tonight right? Did you see that?”.
How on earth did a reporter get that boom mic so close to Trump’s face?
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) March 14, 2025
This just doesn’t seem right.
Security should tighten up.
Embarrassing for the press.
pic.twitter.com/VJK789Lc9y
It didn’t take long for the video footage to go viral. Among the many commenters was political activist and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who said on X: “How on earth did a reporter get that boom mic so close to Trump’s face? This just doesn’t seem right. Security should tighten up. Embarrassing for the press.”
Others called for the woman to be banned from the press pool, while another said “A reporter hitting President Trump in the face is as ignorant as it gets. Imo secret service should of escorted that person away. Who knows what could have been on the tip of that microphone?
You can never be too safe these days.”
“That reporter who hit President Trump in the face with a microphone needs to be investigated.If she’s from a Leftist organization … jail,” said another.
TRUMP’S VOW TO UNLEASH ‘HELL’ ON REBELS
Earlier, Mr Trump vowed to unleash “hell” on Iranian-backed Houthi rebels until they stop attacking ships in the critical Red Sea corridor.
In a social media post that came after Houthi media reported strikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa, Mr Trump also warned that Iran must “immediately” cut support to the rebels.
“Today, I have ordered the United States Military to launch decisive and powerful Military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen,” Mr Trump wrote in a Truth Social post announcing the strikes.
“They have waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones,” he continued.
The strikes were carried out by the USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group, three Navy destroyers and one cruiser at targets in Sanaa, according to reports.
Mr Trump sent a direct message to the militia group, writing in the post, “YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY.
“IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!”
Mr Trump also warned Iran that it must “immediately” cut support to the rebels. The rebels, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the “axis of resistance” of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the United States.
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Originally published as Donald Trump hits highest approval he’s ever had as president, according to poll
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