Trump airs familiar grievances, charts MAGA plan in address before bitterly divided Congress

Fighting through the protests of Democrats, Trump tried to say the country believes it is on the right track for the first time in modern history.

“Now, for the first time in modern history, more Americans believe that our country is headed in the right direction than the wrong direction,” he said.

That’s cherry picking two poll results out of 18.

According to an archive of “right track/wrong track” polling maintained by RealClearPolitics, two polls since Trump took office have found more respondents saying the country was on the right track than on the wrong track. One of those polls, by Rasmussen Reports, found a 1-point edge for “right track,” while one by Emerson College found a 4-point edge.

However, all 17 other polls since Trump took office show “wrong track” leading “right track,” some by double-digit margins. RealClearPolitics’ average is “wrong track” leading by just shy of 9 points.

— Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact

In his speech, Trump touted an end to what he called former President Joe Biden's "insane electric vehicle mandate."

Democrats in the audience are not hiding their displeasure with Trump. Several of them are holding up black circular signs that say "False," "Save Medicaid," "Protect veterans," and "Musk steals." One Democrat was audibly calling Trump's speech "lie after lie after lie after lie." And Rep. Al Green of Texas repeatedly interrupted Trump by saying, "You have no mandate to cut Medicaid." After a few such interruptions, the sergeant-at-arms escorted him out of the chamber.

—Nathaniel Rakich, 538

Trump is starting his speech claiming he was elected with a "mandate" for change in America. But as we have written, explicit support for his agenda is much lower than the vote share he won in the 2024 presidential race. According to our analysis of 50 political polls released since the start of Trump’s second term, much of the president’s agenda is not supported by a majority of U.S. adults. Across nearly 300 questions asked in these polls, the average policy proposal or other official action by Trump is supported by just 38% of Americans, with 46% opposed to them.

The administration’s most popular policies (and some of the few with positive approval ratings) have been those targeting transgender Americans — such as those updating federal documents to only include two genders — and the most unpopular moves are on health care, Trump’s pardons of Americans convicted of crimes related to Jan. 6, 2021, foreign policy, and the “Department of Government Efficiency." When asked specifically about DOGE-related cuts to federal programs, most Americans opposed Trump’s actions.

As of 1 p.m. Eastern, 47.8% of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing as president, according to 538’s average, whereas 47.7% disapprove. His net approval rating is much lower than every other president’s at this point in their term.

—G. Elliott Morris, 538