Donald Trump spent the night rage-posting his way into a math problem, blasting out a glossy graphic that claimed more than half the country approves of his second-term performance, citing a 57 percent figure that doesn’t exist. The image, recycled from a previous White House boast, credited Rasmussen Reports as the source. But when checked, Rasmussen’s own tracker had Trump sitting several points lower, not at 57 percent but in the high 40s.
The late-night spree wasn’t just about puffed-up numbers. After the phantom poll, Trump went into health advice in all caps, telling pregnant women to avoid Tylenol unless “absolutely necessary,” warning parents to split up standard childhood vaccines, and rattling off a series of dubious claims about shots, including a mangled reference to “chicken p” and hepatitis B. Doctors note that Tylenol is considered safe in pregnancy when used as directed and that the CDC vaccine schedule is specifically designed to maximize safety and effectiveness, not the way Trump described it.
🚨NEW POLL🚨
57.11% of Americans APPROVE of President Trump!
MAGA! pic.twitter.com/sobZeX7BQw
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 25, 2025
Then came the political attacks. “Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE Officers! Governor Pritzker also!” Trump posted, escalating his political war with Illinois leaders. Both Governor J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson have already clashed with the administration over ICE raids and National Guard deployments, which they argue are little more than political theater that causes more problems than it solves.
Trump also shared what appeared to be a 1960s-era letter from former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The piece recounted President John F. Kennedy’s move to federalize the Alabama National Guard in 1963, a decisive step to break Governor George Wallace’s attempt to block desegregation at the University of Alabama.
As for the poll numbers that kicked things off, the spin simply didn’t hold. Rasmussen’s daily tracker has consistently shown Trump hovering in the high 40s, sometimes dipping lower, never breaking the 50 percent threshold that Trump insisted on. Other national polls peg him even further down, in the low 40s. That makes his midnight boast less a snapshot of reality than another example of his signature move: declare victory first, let the fact-checkers scramble later.
By morning, the bogus poll graphic was still live on his feed, uncorrected, even as screenshots of Rasmussen’s own data circulated widely. Conservative influencers amplified Trump’s numbers as proof that the media was hiding his “true” strength, while critics had a field day pointing out that he had inflated even one of the friendliest pollsters by nearly ten points.
The episode was a perfect window into Trump’s communications playbook. He spins, exaggerates, or outright invents, then buries the evidence under a pile of new posts, in this case, a mix of shaky medical advice and jailhouse threats aimed at Democratic officials. The whiplash leaves supporters nodding along and critics scrambling to keep up, while the underlying facts, approval numbers that show a deeply divided country, tell a very different story.
Trump continues to enjoy his strongest approval ratings on hardline issues like immigration and crime, where his base views him as uncompromising and tough. According to an AP-NORC poll, about 53% of U.S. adults said they approve of Trump’s handling of crime, placing it above his performance on immigration, the economy, and foreign policy. But on immigration, the numbers are more mixed. A Newsweek poll found Trump’s approval on immigration at 41% with 57% disapproving, a significant slide.
The man knows no truth!