NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland — President Donald Trump received near-total approval of his one-month administration, according to the Conservative Political Action Conference‘s annual straw poll released Saturday afternoon.
Out of the more than 1,000 participants surveyed, 99% approved of Trump’s job as president, and 99% said the president is doing a better job during his second term than his first term.
Another 99% agreed with the claim that the first few weeks of Trump’s presidency were the best for the modern conservative movement in their lifetime.
WHAT IS DOGE? WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY
The survey also questioned CPAC attendees about tech billionaire Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency, with 89% saying Trump should make federal funding decisions based on the work DOGE is doing to eliminate federal waste of taxpayer funding.
Only 5% said that Congress should continue to make funding decisions for federal agencies and federal spending, which is the current standard according to the U.S. Constitution.
Trump is set to address the CPAC crowd later Saturday afternoon, two days after Musk appeared at CPAC brandishing a silver chainsaw, to the delight of the crowd.
Musk has faced heavy blowback from Democrats and labor unions who have hosted protests and sued DOGE to halt the mass firings of federal workers or release funding to agencies that DOGE has attempted to slash.
CPAC attendees however were nonplussed with DOGE’s work trimming the federal workforce in interviews with the Washington Examiner. They also did not think Musk would seek political office, even as Democrats have derogatorily slammed him as President Musk.
“I’ve always admired Elon Musk because my career has been in the technology industry, and what he’s doing is brilliant,” said Bryanna Altman, president of the Virginia Women for Trump. “And I think he’s got the attention of a lot of people now what he’s doing with DOGE. I mean, I think everybody’s eyes are open wide.”
“Do I ever see him holding an office? No, he’s an entrepreneur. It would hold him back,” Altman added. “I don’t see that at all, but I do love that Donald Trump is surrounding himself with people who seem very dedicated to him and loyal to our country”
“I don’t think Elon Musk is gonna have those kind of aspirations, but if he did that could be kind of cool,” said Gem Balboa, 55, a Long Island, New York resident who works in finance.
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Balboa instead praised Musk’s work with DOGE as a necessary measure for the nation.
“He’s basically making America much better because we’re going to be able to operate better as a country without fraud, corruption, waste,” Balboa said. “How could anybody not want to get rid of fraud and criminal activity associated with government spending? How does that make sense at all? So if he can save the country $3 trillion to $4 trillion a year, that’s pretty heckin awesome.”
