Donald Trump addressed the controversy over his declining approval ratings by targeting recent polling data. He responded to the numbers by threatening legal action and questioning the credibility of polls he labeled as “fake results.”
Donald Trump threatens pollsters amid reported changed approval rating
President Donald Trump threatened legal action against The New York Times after a recent New York Times/Siena College poll showed a decline in his approval ratings, particularly among independent voters. “The Times Siena Poll, which is always tremendously negative to me… will be added to my lawsuit against The Failing New York Times,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Our lawyers have demanded that they keep all Records, and how they ‘computed’ these fake results… They will be held fully responsible for all of their Radical Left lies and wrongdoing!”
The Times/Siena poll found that just 34% of independent voters approve of Trump’s job performance, while 52% believe the country is worse off than it was a year ago. Overall, the poll showed Trump’s job approval at 40% and disapproval at 56%. Among all respondents, 49% said the country is worse off under Trump, compared to 32% who said it is better.
In another Truth Social post, Trump wrote, “Fake and Fraudulent Polling should be, virtually, a criminal offense.” This statement is the latest in a series of attacks on pollsters. In a previous case, Trump sued pollster Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register over a pre-election 2024 poll in Iowa that showed him trailing; he later won the state. The state-level lawsuit remains pending.
Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times includes objections to the book Lucky Loser by Susanne Craig and Ross Buettner. He disputes the claim that Mark Burnett and NBC’s The Apprentice largely built his fame. A judge dismissed the initial suit. Trump then refiled it in Florida. He challenged statements that he received over $400 million from his father through alleged fraudulent tax evasion schemes.
New York Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said, “President Trump likes polls that appear favorable to him and dislikes polls that do not” (via Deadline).
