President Donald Trump has eclipsed Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln as the Republican president most admired by GOP voters, according to polling that underscores his enduring command of the party despite historically weak approval ratings among Americans overall. Some 53 percent of Republicans named Trump as the Republican president they admire most, nearly three times the 18 percent who selected Reagan and more than six times the 8 percent who chose Lincoln, according to a CNN poll conducted by SSRS. A separate Elon University poll pointed to the same partisan attachment, though by a narrower margin.
Some 29 percent of Republicans called Trump the best president in U.S. history, ahead of Lincoln at 25 percent and George Washington at 14 percent. CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten reported on these results, both conducted earlier this year, on Wednesday, presenting them as a “reality check,” saying Trump remained “the sun on which the planets of the GOP revolve” even as he faced some of the worst polling of his presidency. Trump shared this report on his Truth Social account.
Recent polling from this month has placed his approval in the mid-30s: An Angus Reid Institute survey found that 34 percent approved of his performance and 58 percent disapproved, while /Ipsos reported his approval holding at a record low of 33 percent. Even Rasmussen Reports, a pollster that has historically given Trump some of his strongest numbers, recorded an all-time low for the president in its approval tracker in June. Despite this, the presidential preference results suggest Trump’s influence over Republican voters remains largely insulated from his difficulties with the wider public - a contrast that could prove consequential as the party approaches the 2026 midterm elections.
Newsweek contacted the White House via email on Thursday afternoon for comment. The CNN/SSRS survey found that Trump’s appeal extended beyond his immediate predecessors: He was the clear favorite when Republicans were asked which GOP president they admired most, with Reagan a distant second and Lincoln further behind. Across the full electorate, Trump ranked second among all presidents, selected by 19 percent of respondents.
Obama led with 30 percent, while Lincoln and Reagan each received 9 percent and John F. Kennedy received 6 percent. The poll was conducted from May 7 to 31 among 2,480 U.S. adults through online and telephone interviews.
The full sample had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points, while the results among Republicans had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.2 points. Elon University’s America250 survey produced a less commanding but still notable result for Trump. Some 29 percent of Republicans called him the best president in U.S. history, placing him ahead of Lincoln at 25 percent and Washington at 14 percent.
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