CNN’s Harry Enten stunned viewers on Wednesday after revealing that President Donald Trump’s foreign policy approval rating has skyrocketed in his second term. Enten said the jump is dramatic compared to Trump’s first term — and even stronger than other modern presidents.
“This is one of the areas in which Donald Trump is performing significantly better than he was in term one,” Enten said, outlining how Trump’s rating climbed from 35% to 43%. He called the rise “like a rocket,” noting it represents a double-digit shift in net approval.
Enten emphasized that Americans “like much more of what they’re seeing” from Trump this time around. He said Trump is outperforming George W. Bush and Barack Obama at the same point in their presidencies.
“Donald Trump has a higher foreign policy approval rating at this point in a second term than any other president who served their entire second term in the 21st century,” Enten added. He noted that presidents love to shape their legacies with foreign policy achievements — and Trump’s numbers give him a major edge.
Trump is also earning support on one of the world’s most contentious issues — the Israel-Hamas conflict. Enten said Trump holds a +3 net approval rating on the war, while Biden collapsed to a brutal -37 by the end of his presidency.
Some conservatives have pushed back on Trump’s foreign policy moves, including Tucker Carlson and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Carlson criticized Trump for strikes on Iran, saying the U.S. should not get pulled into “endless wars,” while Greene objected to military actions against Venezuela.
But Trump has made major diplomatic gains. Israel and Hamas agreed to his peace plan in October, which required hostages to be released and Israeli troops to reposition. The United Nations Security Council approved the plan Monday, giving it global backing.
Analysts also predict a 61% chance that Trump will broker normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia — a massive foreign policy win if achieved. Trump met with the Saudi crown prince on Tuesday as part of the effort to stabilize the Middle East.
The administration is also working with Russia on a 28-point peace proposal for Ukraine. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff has been coordinating with Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev, and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is preparing to brief Ukraine’s president on the plan.