CNN data analyst Harry Enten said Monday that the ongoing government shutdown has not damaged President Donald Trump’s approval rating, despite entering its third week.
According to Enten, Trump’s popularity remains steady and has even slightly increased as the shutdown continues amid disputes over federal spending cuts.
“This shutdown hasn’t eaten into Donald Trump’s support at all,” Enten said during a CNN segment.
“His net approval rating is actually up a point in terms of his popular support.”
Enten compared the current situation to the 2018–2019 government shutdown that took place during Trump’s first term.
That earlier standoff lasted 35 days and resulted in a notable drop in his approval ratings at the time.
“So the bottom line is this, the first shutdown during Trump’s first term 2018 and 2019 was hurting Donald Trump. This one is not hurting him at all,” Enten said.
“There’s no real reason Donald Trump might say, at least when it comes to popular support, ‘I want to get out of this shutdown,’” he added.
Enten went on to explain that public perception surrounding the shutdown appears to have shifted in Trump’s favor.
“It comes down to the blame game. A game I loved to play when I was younger,” he said.
“Blame Trump for the shutdown a great deal in 2018 slash 2019, 61% — more than three and five Americans — blamed Trump a great deal for that particular shutdown.”
He then contrasted those figures with current polling numbers.
“You come over to this side of the screen. Look at this. It’s a different world. It’s a different world. Forty-eight percent of Americans blame Trump a great deal for this particular shutdown,” Enten said.
“So it’s more than three and five back in 2018 slash 2019. It’s less than half — a drop of 13 points.”
“Again, it’s no real wonder that Donald Trump at this point, looking at the shutdown, says, you know, it’s not actually harming me politically in large part because he’s getting less of the blame and he’s doing things differently during this shutdown,” Enten concluded.
The current government shutdown began earlier this month following a breakdown in negotiations between the White House and congressional Democrats over spending reforms.
President Trump has sought to implement targeted reductions to address the federal deficit, while Democratic leaders have rejected those proposals, arguing that the cuts would affect government programs they support.
As the shutdown continues, many federal employees have gone without pay.
The departments most directly affected include Homeland Security, Transportation, Justice, and Interior.
Essential personnel such as border patrol agents, air traffic controllers, federal firefighters, FBI agents, and TSA screeners have remained on duty but have not received paychecks since the shutdown began.
The Office of Management and Budget has estimated that more than 800,000 federal workers have been impacted.
Treasury officials have stated that federal operations related to national defense, public safety, and emergency response will continue under contingency funding until Congress reaches an agreement.
Despite the disruption, polling data cited by CNN shows that President Trump’s approval among voters remains largely unchanged, signaling a potential shift in how the public assigns responsibility for government shutdowns.
Lawmakers from both parties are expected to resume negotiations later this week, though no firm timeline for a resolution has been announced.
