EXCLUSIVE — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is the most popular member of President Donald Trump‘s administration, despite the economic uncertainty created by the president’s tariffs, according to a new poll.
Bessent, the founder of global macro investment firm Key Square Group and a former Soros Fund Management partner, has a net positive approval rating of 14 percentage points, according to the poll conducted by J.L. Partners.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, both former Democrats before accepting Trump’s nomination to become members of his second administration, tied to be the second and third most popular Trump officials, with net positive approval ratings of 8 percentage points.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem each have net positive approval ratings of 7 percentage points, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth‘s is 6 percentage points.
Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk, who is spearheading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, is the least popular member of Trump’s administration, according to J.L. Partners. Musk has a net negative approval rating of 6 percentage points.
“In our cabinet league table, it’s the treasury secretary who wins top prize,” J.L. Partners co-founder James Johnson told the Washington Examiner. “Voters approve of him and the job he is doing the most — a course correction to some commentator criticism this week.”
Johnson, a former senior opinion research and strategy adviser to then-British Prime Minister Theresa May, contended Bessent is performing well in public opinion because he has not “got into many scrapes himself, his firm loyalty to the president, and — most crucially — a tempered and calm image on social media and TV that voters seem to be looking for in the man in charge of the accounts.”
The economy’s performance under Bessent’s leadership has been defined by uncertainty, particularly as Trump announces tariffs before routinely delaying them as he did this week with his 90-day reprieve from “reciprocal” duties with countries subject to the pause set at a baseline of 10% on tariffs.
“The successful negotiating strategy that President Trump implemented a week ago today,” Bessent told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. “It has brought more than 75 countries forward to negotiate. It took great courage, great courage for him to stay the course until this moment, and it ended up here.”
Bessent added: “As I told everyone a week ago in this very spot, ‘Do not retaliate, and you will be rewarded.’ So every country in the world wants to come and negotiate. We are willing to hear you.”
The stock market opened lower on Thursday after a rally on Wednesday following Trump’s 90-day tariff delay announcement. The S&P 500 index was down 2.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.8% shortly after the opening bell as higher tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico remain in place, as does a 25% duty for all aluminum, steel, and cars imported into the U.S.
Regardless of recession concerns, inflation decreased to 2.4% in the year ending in March, according to the Department of Labor. That is compared to 2.8% in the 12 months ending in February.
TRUMP PAUSES TARIFFS FOR 90 DAYS ON DOZENS OF COUNTRIES, RAISES RATE ON CHINA TO 125%
Polling regarding Trump’s administration is sparse, though the president’s own approval rating declined to its lowest point of his administration so far this week — an average of net negative 3.2 points, according to RealClearPolitics.
J.L. Partners polled a nationally representative sample of 1,019 registered voters online from March 31 to April 3 for a margin of error of 3.4 points.