As of January 13th the NBC/survey of registered voters found 43% approving the job he has done while 55% disapprove the job he has done. As of the same date a WashPost/ABC poll of adults found that 38% approve of the job that President Trump was doing while 60% disapprove.
On the economy, Trump gets a positive grade of 53% approval and a 44% disapproval grade. Although 3,000,000 jobs were lost during President Trump’s years in office.
However, on foreign policy he gets a failing grade of 41% to 55%. [CNN 1/14/21]
The following are the final Gallup survey and the final FiveThirtyEight survey of likely voters for as well as the FiveThirtyEight survey for 2021 on approval/disapproval of President Trump.
| Gallup (all adults) | FiveThirtyEight (Registered / Likely voters) | |||
| Date | Approval | Dis-approval | Approval | Dis-approval |
| 1/15/21 | 34% | 62% | 38.0% | 58.0% |
| 12/17/20 | 39% | 57% | 43.6% | 52.5% |
| 11/19/20 | 43% | 55% | 44.3% | 52.4% |
| 10/27/20 | 44% | 55% | 43.4% | 53.7% |
The following question was put to people who said they had voted for Trump.
When it comes to your vote for Donald Trump, have his actions and statements related to the events at the U.S. Capitol last week…
- reinforced your vote for Trump? 28%
- made you regret your vote for Trump? 5%
- not changed how you feel about your vote either way? 66%
[NBC/1/13/21]
How does President Trump measure up against the five presidents who proceeded him, i.e., will he turn out to be the best or worst between them? (The order below is based on the best scores.)
| Best -better than most | Worst – Not as good | |
|---|---|---|
| Reagan | 11% – 44% | 9% – 28% |
| Clinton | 16% – 40% | 18% – 24% |
| Obama | 21% – 34% | 26% – 18% |
| GHWBush | 7% – 48% | 6% – 31% |
| Trump | 19% – 21% | 49% – 9% |
| GWBush | 2% – 18% | 48% – 30% |
[NBC/1/13/21]
47% of U.S. adults think that Donald Trump is one of the worst presidents in history; this includes 43% of Independents. 16% say he will be remembered as one of the best presidents in U.S. history. [NPR/PBS/Marist 1/13/21]
As of January 11, 2021, the Washington Post Fact Checker says that President Trump has made more than 30,000 false or misleading claims.
Judges Nominated and Confirmed to Date
Because the U.S. Senate will be in Democratic hands in 2021 and the filibuster is no more, President Biden will be able to be able to begin affecting the federal judiciary at an early date. The chart below reflects the number of Article III court judges appointed by all U.S. presidents since Jimmy Carter.
The longest serving active federal judge, Carmen Cerezo was appointed by Jimmy Carter in 1980. He serves on the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.
| Total | Supreme Ct | Appeals Ct | District Ct | Int’l Trade | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trump – 4 years | 234 | 3 | 54 | 174 | 3 |
| Obama – 8 years | 325 | 2 | 55 | 268 | |
| GW Bush – 8 years | 325 | 2 | 62 | 261 | |
| Clinton – 8 years | 373 | 2 | 66 | 305 | |
| GHW Bush – 4 years | 192 | 2 | 42 | 148 | |
| Reagan – 8 years | 376 | 3 | 83 | 290 | |
| Carter – 4 years | 259 | 0 | 56 | 203 |
There are currently several nominations awaiting Senate action, 1 seat in the District Courts, 1 seat on the courts of appeals, and 1 seat on the Court of International Trade.
There are also currently 2 vacancies of the courts of appeals, 43 vacancies on the U.S. District Courts, and 1 vacancy on the Court of International Trade. The list of others likely to retire in the short run (next year or two) is quite small – 5 as of 1/7/21. [USCourts/Wikipedia/List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump]
Disassembling
On January 5, 2021, Trump administration officials auctioned off oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, capping Republicans decades long quest to drill in one of the nation’s most vast unspoiled wild places. The move marks one of the most significant environmental rollbacks the president has accomplished in his term.
With lackluster oil prices and a large number of banks saying they would not finance Arctic Energy projects; major oil companies did not try to buy the leases. The sales netted a tiny fraction of what Republicans initially predicted it would yield. [WP1/6/21]
The EPA has finalized a rule to limit what research it can use to craft public health protections, a move opponents argue is aimed at crippling the agency’s ability to more aggressively regulate the nation’s air and water. [WP 1/4/21]
The DHHS has issued a rule that government scientists at the FDA and CDCP could face reassignment every five years. Under the rule, more than a dozen senior officials could leave their positions as early as this year. Because this rule concerns agency practices and procedures it is not subject to normal rules of notice and comment. [NYT 1/15/21]