Trump’s Approval Ratings Hit 44% as Vance Declares War on Crypto ‘Lawfare’

U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval ratings inched up to 44% this week, according to a May 23–26 YouGov/Economist poll, just as Vice President JD Vance vowed to kill “Operation Chokepoint 2.0” and tear up crypto red tape.

Trump Sees Slight Approval Boost

The poll showed that while Trump has a 44% approval rating from U.S. adults, 52% disapprove. Meanwhile, 46% of registered voters approve of Trump’s second term as president, while 52% again disapprove.

Conducted with more than 1600 participants, the latest poll’s result marks a 1% increase in Trump’s overall approval rating.

Economist/YouGov Poll
% of U.S. adult citizens who say things in this country today are generally headed in the right direction | off on the wrong track…
At the start of Trump's second term 37% | 50%
Now 38% | 53%
(Links in reply) pic.twitter.com/BXKZHNAiKR

— YouGov America (@YouGovAmerica) May 28, 2025

News of Trump’s slight popularity boost comes the same day that Vice President JD Vance doubled down on the controversial administration’s commitment to changing how the U.S. approaches crypto regulations.

In particular, Vance slammed former United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler for his regulation-by-enforcement strategy toward the blockchain sector as a whole.

“We prioritize eliminating the rules, the red tape, and the lawfare that we saw aimed at our crypto by our predecessors,” Vance said. “We’re ending the weaponization of federal regulations against this community.”

“To put it simply, Operation Chokepoint 2.0 is dead and it is not coming back under the Trump administration,” he added.

$TRUMP Faces Gala Dinner Backlash

The SEC has dropped several high-profile lawsuits against key players in the crypto industry in recent months, including Ripple, OpenSea, and Coinbase.

The federal regulator has also assembled a Crypto Task Force to collect input from the American public and crypto community at large on how best to develop a new digital asset regulatory framework.

However, Trump has faced increased scrutiny in recent weeks for his affiliations with the digital asset sector.

Democratic lawmakers have cast a spotlight on ethics concerns surrounding Trump’s namesake meme coin gala dinner held for top $TRUMP investors on May 22 at Trump National Golf Club just outside of Washington, D.C.

Critics claim that foreign influences may have been able to purchase the cryptocurrency in a bid to win favor with Trump, potentially violating key ethics provisions.

However, with Trump Media announcing a $2.5 billion plan to buy Bitcoin on Tuesday, it seems as though Trump’s alleged connection to cryptocurrencies is doing anything but slowing down.