Donald Trump's approval rating at its highest

President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that, according to the Rasmussen Reports poll on Feb. 2, his approval rating was at 49%.

Trump said on his tweet: "Rasmussen just announced that my approval rating jumped to 49%, a far better number than I had in winning the Election, and higher than certain 'sacred cows.' Other Trump polls are way up also. So why does the media refuse to write this? Oh well, someday!"

The tweet was made following Rasmussen Reports' daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Feb. 2 was published. The poll stated that 49% of likely U.S. voters approve of Trump's performance while 50% disapprove. The Feb. 9 poll also indicated that among the numbers given before, 35% strongly approve of his performance while 42% strongly disapprove. Because of these figures, his Presidential Approval Index rating is −7.

According to Time, Trump's 49% approval rating was his highest since March 7, 2017. Trump acknowledged this fact in his tweet. His rating was higher than his predecessor, Barack Obama's approval rating around the same time of his presidency — according to The Washington Post, only 46% approve Obama's performance while 54% disapprove on Feb. 8, 2010.

Meanwhile, according to the Gallup poll on Jan. 30, Trump averaged 50% or higher approval in 12 states — West Virginia, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana and Alaska, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota. Moreover, Trump earned between 40% and 49% in 20 states — Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. On the other hand, fewer than 30% approved of his performance in the remaining 18 states. Trump earned less than 30% approval rating in Massachusetts (27%), California (29%) and Hawaii (29%). In Maryland, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island, however, less than a third of the respondents approve of his performance.