On Tuesday, CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten stated that President Donald Trump is “more beloved” by his party’s voters than any Republican president in recent decades.
Five months into his second term, Trump holds a 63% approval rating among Republican voters, according to Enten’s aggregated data. This surpasses the approval ratings of previous Republican presidents dating back to Ronald Reagan, none of whom exceeded 60% approval within their first five months in office.
“It’s history making … Why don’t we look back, we’ve got all the Republican presidents going back over the last 36 [or] 37 years, what are we talking about? GOP who strongly approves 5 months in, look at this. [Former President] George H.W. Bush, 46%. [Former President] George [W] Bush, 59%,” Enten said on Monday.
“You see, Trump in the first term, 53%. But look at this, 63%. He beats all the Republicans on the board here, and I was looking even back since Reagan, and get this. Donald Trump beats Ronald Reagan when it comes to the strongly approve five months in, and of course, Reagan was coming on high after that assassination attempt,” he added.
“So the bottom line is that Donald Trump is making history with the Republican base, he is more beloved by this Republican base than any other Republican base loved any other GOP president five months in. It is history-making,” Enten continued.
Reagan’s approval rating stood between 58% and 60% in early July 1981, just four months after John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate him outside of the Washington Hilton hotel.
Trump has fulfilled his 2024 campaign promises that largely appealed to Republican voters. Among these are immigration, where the administration has carried out mass deportations of illegal immigrants and has managed to see border encounters fall to record-low numbers. The administration let no illegals into the U.S. in May 2025.
Migrant encounters dropped by 99%, daily border encounters declined by 93%, and encounters with “gotaways” fell by 95%, according to data released following the administration’s first 100 days in office. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests surged to 2,200 in a single day in early June, with the agency making over 100,000 arrests since President Trump began his second term.
Inflation fell to a four-year low on May 30, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increasing just 2.3% from April 2024 to April 2025. The Senate is currently debating the president’s “big, beautiful bill,” which aims to enact policies eliminating taxes on tips and overtime, proposals Trump advocated during his campaign. Candidates endorsed by Trump in congressional and gubernatorial races have won their primary races over 95% of the time, Enten said, citing FiveThirtyEight.
“Donald Trump is a winner in Republican primaries. You go against Donald Trump, to quote the movie ‘Good Burger,’ you go in the grinder. Donald Trump is the key nugget. His endorsement is the key nugget in a GOP primary because he’s historically, strongly popular with the GOP base,” Enten said.
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