Melania Trump’s public standing has cratered to a stage by no means earlier than seen for a contemporary first woman, plunging to this point underwater that NCS’s Harry Enten referred to as the numbers “absolutely awful” and traditionally unprecedented.
Enten pointed to the dramatic slide in Melania’s approval ranking over time, noting that she stood at +30 in May 2018, fell to +3 in January 2025, and has now plunged to -12 within the newest March 26-30 NCS/SSRS survey.
“So at this point, historic lows for Melania Trump,” Enten mentioned. “These numbers are absolutely awful.”
The collapse places Melania nicely beneath different trendy first girls at the same level of their husbands’ presidencies. According to NCS/SSRS knowledge cited by Enten, Nancy Reagan stood at +50, Hillary Clinton at +25, Laura Bush at +46, and Michelle Obama at +42.
“If we look at this historically, the worst ever, the worst ever at this point in term number two,” Enten mentioned.
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He added that even former first woman Jill Biden, regardless of being measured throughout a primary time period reasonably than a second, nonetheless outperformed Melania.
“And I even looked at Jill Biden’s numbers at this point. And that presidency, of course, that was term one. She was above water as well,” Enten mentioned. “So this is the worst at this point in a presidency as well.”
Enten additionally argued that Melania’s poor standing displays a broader disconnect with the general public, reviving one of the vital controversial episodes of her time within the White House.
“I would say that the American people really don’t care for Melania Trump,” Enten mentioned, referencing the jacket the primary woman wore throughout a go to to a migrant detention facility within the first Trump administration that learn: “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?”
For Enten, the newest ballot leaves little room for ambiguity.
“Melania Trump breaking records in the way that you don’t want to break records—historically awful,” he concluded, earlier than reiterating: “The American people really don’t care for her.”
U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. first woman Melania Trump attend the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 21, 2025. / Leah Millis/Reuters
The first woman’s approval scores mirror these of her husband, whose numbers have additionally reached document lows in current weeks amid his deeply unpopular battle in Iran and considerations concerning the economic system.
A NCS/SSRS poll performed final week discovered that approval of Trump’s dealing with of the economic system is the bottom it has been in both of his phrases, with simply 31 % approving.