CNN’s Harry Enten Acknowledges Trump’s Resurgence in National Polling
In a moment of rare candor from the mainstream media, CNN’s Harry Enten sounded the alarm for Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans during a live segment this week, pointing to a significant rise in President Trump’s approval ratings and bluntly admitting:
“Donald Trump has some pretty good political instincts.”
According to Reuters/Ipsos, Trump’s net approval rating jumped seven points in just weeks, rising from -8 in late April to just -1 in early May. Enten emphasized the unexpected nature of the rebound:
“He is rising from the dead… This is not the picture a lot of people were expecting.”
Polling Momentum and Historical Context
Enten went further, showing that Trump is not only outperforming his own numbers from just a few weeks ago, but he’s also doing better than he was at this exact point in his first term in 2017 — by nearly 10 points.
Even in aggregate polling — which tends to smooth out individual outliers — Trump sits around -6 net approval, substantially better than the lows many predicted he would plunge into after reentering office in January 2025.
“In Trumpian terms, against himself, this is actually a good position to be in politically,” CNN anchor John Berman admitted.
Why the Turnaround?
Enten attributes the rise largely to economic optimism:
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Recession fears are fading: JPMorgan’s probability estimate dropped from 60% to under 50%; Goldman Sachs from 45% to 35%.
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Trade war tensions with China have de-escalated: Trump appears to be recalibrating his tariff strategy.
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Political discipline: Trump has pulled back in areas that once caused friction, boosting perceptions of stability.
“It’s the economy, the economy, the economy,” Enten emphasized. “As the chance of a recession has fallen… voters are responding.”
The Bottom Line
CNN may have tried to write Trump’s political obituary too early. As Harry Enten admitted with noticeable reluctance, Trump is outperforming expectations, riding a wave of economic stabilization, sharper messaging, and perhaps most of all, his own unmatched political instincts.
With approval ratings rising and the election season heating up, Trump’s comeback isn’t just real — it’s measurable. And if the numbers keep climbing, even legacy media will have to adjust their narrative.