‘Wider Than the Gulf of America!’ CNN’s Harry Enten Marvels at How Popular Trump’s Handling of Russia-Ukraine War Is

CNN’s Harry Enten marveled at how much more popular President Donald Trump is than his predecessor when it comes to his handling of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine on Monday.

“I think sometimes, Kate [Bolduan], we get a little too complicated in our questions. So I think the easiest way we can kind of just ask this is, ‘Do Americans like the way that Trump’s handling his job?’ and compare it to how they felt about Joe Biden,” said Enten to kick off the segment. “So this is the net approval rating. You look at Joe Biden back in 2024, he was 22 points underwater — holy cow! You look at Donald Trump, it’s just a different planet entirely. I mean, the gulf between these two is wider than the Gulf of America or Mexico, depending on which side of the aisle you stand on. He’s at plus two!”

“So, look, at this particular point, Americans are giving Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt. He’s doing considerably better than Joe Biden was doing on the handling of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and so on thig simple question I think Americans are saying, ‘Okay, Donald Trump is doing all right on this,'” he added.

Bolduan and Enten continued to break down the results of the survey:

BOLDUAN: What about specifically on how they feel about bringing the war to an end?

ENTEN: Yeah, okay. So, you know, look, questions on this can be quite complicated, but I think this kind of gets at sort of where the American trend line is. Americans on the Russia-Ukraine war: “Want a quicker  end to the war, but Russia keeps its captured land.” Look at this: 50%, 50% bare majority, bare majority coming in here. “Support Ukraine’s right to fight even if it means a long war,” that’s at 48. This is very, very close. But the trend line on this question is so important because that “Want a quick end of the war,” look at this. You go back to August of 2022, it was at 31%. Now we’re at 50%. I mean, that is a rocket ship upwards in terms of the Americans who want a quick end to the war, even if it means Russia keeps the captured Ukraine land. Americans are moving closer and closer to wanting a compromise, even if it means that Ukraine doesn’t really get what it set out to want, at least at the beginning of this war.

BOLDUAN: And Americans’ views on Russia are shifting as well?

ENTEN: Absolutely. I mean one of the reasons why we’re seeing this as Americans who say “Russia is an enemy,” you go back to 2023, it was 64%. In that CBS News/YouGov poll, it was down to 34%. Now, there is a chunk that believes that Russia is an unfriendly nation, but the percentage who believe that they’re either an ally or friendly, that’s up to 34% as well, basically equal to the percentage who say that they’re an enemy. So views on Russia have become, let’s say, a little less isolated in terms of wanting Russia to be way out there on their own, thinking that they’re an enemy. At this particular point, they’re starting to see Russia a little bit more friendly, and I think that’s part of the reason why Americans want to see a compromise at this particular hour.

The CBS News/YouGov poll Enten cited in the segment was conducted between February 26 and 28, so mostly prior to Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s explosive fight in the Oval Office on Friday. The sample size was 2,311 adults in the United States, and results carry a margin of error of +/- 2.5%.

Watch above via CNN.