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NEW ORLEANS — Among Native News Online readers, President Donald Trump has only a 11 percent approval rating in his overall job performance at the 100-day mark of his second presidential administration.

The poll shows 87 percent disapprove of Trump's overall performance with a more than three-to-one difference (76 percent). Readers were asked their opinions on the economy, immigration, Social Security, and Native health care.

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Native News Online’s 100-day mark reader’s poll showed a contrast to national polls that show Trump has 41 percent job approval rating. Trump’s poll numbers at the 100-day mark represent the lowest poll numbers among presidents in the past 75 years.

The survey continues Native News Online’s work to survey Indian Country that started with three polls for the 2024 presidential election, and a post-election poll to determine how Native Americans voted during the election. The Native News Online post-election poll showed Trump garnered 51 percent of the Native vote.

Similar to polls conducted by other national news outlets to review Trump’s first 100 days of this administration, the economy is a major concern in Indian Country. Only 9 percent of Native News Online readers say Trump is doing a good job on his handling of the economy; while 87 percent disapprove of his handling of the economy. A CNN poll shows that 39 percent say they approve of Trump’s economy, while 61 percent disapprove.

“Trump promised to lower inflation and the prices of food, but his economic policies are having the opposite impact.  With threats to mandatory funding like Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare, the average American who voted for Trump is about to feel the hurt,” Sault Ste. Marie Tribal Councilor Aaron Payment said. “Whether they will give him a pass as part of the learning curve in the first 100 days might be tenable if this were his first crack at the bat.” 

The turbulent and erratic start to the first 100 days has left many Americans questioning whether the Trump Administration is pursuing a coherent long-term strategy—or steering the country toward economic turmoil and the erosion of democratic institutions.

“The first 100 days is characterized by interrupted access to Tribal funding portals, threatened office closures, a reduction in force for service delivery to Indian Country, the leaked OMB HHS passback documents showing over $2 billion cuts to Indian Country in Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Health and Human Service and eliminating Indian Health Services Advanced Appropriations, Head Start, LIHEAP and other programs seen as part of the treaty and trust obligation, it’s not surprising to see Trump’s poll numbers at the lowest of any president in over seven decades,” Payment said.

Native News Online readers give Trump poor marks on three important issues:

Issue

Favorable

Unfavorable

Unsure

Immigration

13 percent

87 percent

3 percent

Social Security 

8 percent

79 percent

12 percent

Native Health Care

6 percent

83 percent

11 percent

The readers gave Trump poor marks on the administration's performance on Native American issues. Reader participants gave the president a 85 percent unfavorable rating. Only 7 percent gave him a favorable rating, while 8 percent were unsure.

On whether or not Trump has honored tribal sovereignty, 79 percent said no. Only 9 percent said yes and 12 percent were unsure.

The Native News Online online poll was conducted from April 25 to April 28 to determine how its readers rate Trump’s first 100 days.

Neely Bardwell contributed to ths article.

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About The Author
Levi Rickert
Author: Levi RickertEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Levi "Calm Before the Storm" Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at [email protected].