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By Dan Gooding
Associate News Editor
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Conservative pollster Rasmussen Reports has found that most voters don’t feel they’re living in the “golden age” that President Donald Trump promised them.
A new poll released Tuesday by the pollster also showed 48 percent of voters believed former President Joe Biden was the better president compared to 40 percent for Trump.
Chris D. Jackson, a political strategist who has worked with Democrats, posted to X that the numbers were "brutal."
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The survey was conducted between February 2 and 4, 2026, among 1,094 voters, with a 3 percentage point margin of error.
Why It Matters
Trump returned to the White House having heavily criticized the man who held office between his two terms, saying Biden had left the U.S. economy in a poor state and allowed illegal immigration to soar.
The Republican’s promises of cheaper groceries, lower housing costs, and mass deportations have not fully come to fruition over the past year, leading some voters to feel he had not delivered for them.
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What To Know
Voters surveyed by Rasmussen were asked: “Comparing Donald Trump to Joe Biden, which one has done a better job as president? Or are Trump and Biden about the same?” That question led to the 48-40 split in favor of Biden.
The numbers reflect a trend seen in other recent polling. Real Clear Politics’ (RCP) tracker showed that between January 20 and February 9, Trump had an average approval rating of 42.3 percent, compared to 54.9 percent of voters disapproving of his performance.
As with any presidency, approval ratings rise and fall over time depending on the news cycle, policy announcements, and the economy. During Biden’s term, his average approval rating fell from 49.6 percent in 2021 to 40.4 percent in 2024, per RCP.
Nate Silver’s Silver Bulletin average put Trump’s net approval at negative 13.7 points as of February 9, 2026, and noted that the share who strongly disapprove broke 46 percent for the first time, underscoring persistent political headwinds for the White House and Republicans in a key midterm year.
Trump had promised a “Golden Age” for the U.S., including a booming economy, thanks to his policies on immigration, tariffs, and cutting government waste. The Rasmussen poll released Tuesday showed that ahead of the midterms, the president may have some work to do convincing voters that age is here.
In January 2025, 52 percent of voters felt the new era was beginning. Of those surveyed this past week, 27 percent said the Golden Age had arrived, but 58 percent said it had not.
What People Are Saying
Chris D. Jacson, a political strategist, on X: “This comes just a week after the Harris Poll showed the same trend. When even the most pro-Trump polling starts moving this way, you know something has shifted. As I have said, as time goes on, Biden’s stature and legacy are only getting stronger. History will be very kind to him.”
White House spokesman Kush Desai said in an earlier statement to Newsweek: “Nearly 80 million Americans gave President Trump a resounding Election Day mandate to end Joe Biden’s economic disaster and immigration crisis. The Trump administration remains laser‑focused on continuing to cool inflation, accelerate economic growth, secure our border and mass deport criminal illegal aliens.”
Mark Penn, co-director of the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll and Stagwell chairman and CEO, said last week: "President Trump’s ratings are slowing declining with Americans seeing the economy sagging and inflation raging, even though economic statistics show the opposite. On immigration, the public supports removing criminal aliens but believe that ICE has gone too far and is randomly picking up migrants, a policy they do not support. Given these two trends, Republicans are now facing a tough midterm election."
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