How Americans Compare Melania Trump to Other First Ladies
Melania Trump, the wife of former President Donald Trump, has been ranked as the second least popular among 11 recent first ladies based on a recent poll. The survey conducted by YouGov asked participants to rate the first ladies on a scale from “outstanding” to “poor.” Melania Trump received a net rating of -16, which places her just above Hillary Clinton, the wife of former President Bill Clinton and a 2016 presidential candidate for the Democratic Party. Clinton had a slightly lower net rating of -17.
Why It Matters
Although Melania Trump is not in an official position of power, her role as a first lady is often scrutinized alongside the policies and public image of her husband’s presidency. Her low popularity could raise concerns for the White House, especially as it aims to maintain a strong public image. This is particularly relevant given that her public profile has increased recently following the release of Melania, a 104-minute film that follows the 20 days in the life of the first lady leading up to the president’s second inauguration.
What To Know
The poll surveyed 2,255 adults between February 2 and 5, with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points. According to the results, 36 percent of respondents rated Melania Trump as “poor,” while an additional 10 percent considered her “below average.” This led to her net approval rating of -16 points.
Hillary Clinton had the lowest rating among first ladies. She was rated “poor” by 33 percent of respondents and “below average” by another 11 percent, resulting in a net rating of -17 points.
On the other end of the spectrum, the most popular recent first ladies were Jackie Kennedy, Rosalynn Carter, and Nancy Reagan. They received net ratings of +56, +32, and +25, respectively.
Melania Trump’s ranking has seen slight improvement. In a similar poll conducted by YouGov in 2023, 39 percent of people rated Melania Trump as “poor” or “below average,” compared to 37 percent for Hillary Clinton.
Interestingly, the poll also revealed that half of Americans rate Donald Trump as a “poor” president. This makes Melania Trump more popular than her husband, with 48 percent of respondents viewing him as “poor” and 6 percent considering him “below average.” This is the lowest rating of any of the 20 presidents tracked by YouGov.
Following Donald Trump, his predecessor Joe Biden was the least popular former president. Some 38 percent of people said he was “poor,” and 12 percent said he was “below average.” Republican Richard Nixon came in third, with 27 percent rating him as “poor” and 21 percent as “below average.”
In contrast, the most popular presidents according to the poll were Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and George Washington. Their favorable ratings were 74 percent, 66 percent, and 65 percent, respectively, with those numbers including both “outstanding” and “above average” ratings.
Other polls have shown that both Melania and Donald Trump have similar approval ratings. Each registered 41 percent favorable ratings in separate Economist/YouGov polls released in January and February 2026.
What People Are Saying
YouGov highlighted in a blog post about the poll:
“Opinion of first ladies generally is politically polarized in a similar way to opinion of their husbands.”
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