President Claudia Sheinbaum’s defense of Mexico amid threats from Donald Trump helped propel her approval rating to 80% among respondents to the latest El Universal poll.
The polling company Buendía & Márquez conducted a national poll for the El Universal newspaper between Feb. 13 and 18, not long after Sheinbaum reached an agreement with President Trump that resulted in a one-month postponement of U.S. tariffs on Mexican exports that were scheduled to take effect on Feb. 4.
Mexico’s first female president also defended Mexico’s sovereignty and emphasized the country’s refusal to be subordinated by its more powerful northern neighbor as the Trump administration prepared to designate various Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, which occurred last Thursday, and U.S. spy planes flew missions close to — and south of — the Mexico-U.S. border.
Last Wednesday, she declared she had no fear of Trump, who on the first day of his second term declined to rule out the possibility of using the U.S. military against cartels on Mexican soil.
Sheinbaum won significant praise for averting a crisis for the Mexican economy by reaching an agreement with Trump to stave off 25% tariffs, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that “she negotiated a deal that world leaders are studying for their own trade talks with the U.S.”
More importantly for the president — who said last Friday that what her government seeks is “the recognition of the people of Mexico” — a strong majority of her constituents endorse her, according to the results of various polls.
Sheinbaum’s best action as president? ‘Defending the country from Trump’ the top response
Sheinbaum’s approval rating rose to 80% from 77% in January and 74% in November, according to polling conducted for El Universal in recent months. Only 11% of those polled in February said they disapproved of the president’s performance, down from 13% in January.
Among students, residents of southern Mexico, Mexicans aged 18-45, housewives, people who live in rural areas of the country, women and citizens with education up to a high-school level, support for the president was even higher than the overall 80% approval rating detected this month.
The lowest level of support among all sectors of the population was a still-high 75% among those aged 46-59.
The 1,000 respondents to the most recent El Universal poll were also asked to respond to the question: “In your opinion, what is the best thing Claudia Sheinbaum has done so far as president of the republic?”
The top response was “defending the country from Donald Trump,” with 14% of those polled saying that was the president’s greatest achievement since she took office on Oct. 1.
The next most popular responses were:
- The monetary support for senior citizens (9%)
- The support/scholarships for students (9%)
- The government’s “social programs in general” (8%)
- Providing continuity to the work of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (7%)
Public security, the biggest concern
Asked what the “worst thing” Sheinbaum has done as president, the top response was “public security” — i.e. the government hasn’t done enough to reduce violence and other crime in Mexico.
However, only 7% of respondents gave that response, whereas more than six times that percentage — 43% — said they didn’t know what was the worst thing Sheinbaum has done or didn’t respond to the question. An additional 32% of those polled said “nothing” when asked what the worst thing the president has done.
Other poll results
Among the other results from the latest El Universal poll are the following:
- 56% of respondents believe that Mexico is on a “very good” or “good” path, double the 28% who think Mexico is on a “very bad” or “bad” path.
- 72% of respondents believe that Sheinbaum “has the reins of the country,” while 19% think that “things are getting out of control.”
- 81% of those polled believe that Sheinbaum’s public remarks help unite Mexicans, while 12% think they “serve to divide” Mexicans. The former figure rose 10% compared to before Trump took office, providing another indication of the “rally ’round the flag” effect as Sheinbaum deals with a U.S. president whose administration accused the Mexican government of having an “intolerable alliance” with cartels.
With reports from El Universal
I applaud anyone who stands up for the people of their country. Bravo 👏
Claudia predicted no new tariffs and is dead wrong. Trump confirmed today that Mexico is getting 25% tariffs. A deep economic recession is coming. Doing nothing to stop the cartels is unacceptable moving forward. Big change is coming and it’s not good for Mexico status quo.
If trump is dumb enough to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico, yes it will be bad for Mexico AND it will be bad for the US. Of course, only a deranged fool would intentionally shoot himself in the foot — which is why it seems quite possible this could happen. Hopefully the people around him can distract him from this terribly stupid, dementia-addled idea.
“Stupid is as stupid does”
-Forrest Trump
Brilliant!
with stupid amounts of $$$ too….
Mexico is already in a recession, are they not ??
I’m good with Sheinbaum as long as she doesn’t engage in populistic language and speeches. I think she is trying to do a good job and has good people several positions, but results are still to be seen. She inherited a mess in many regards.
The worst things:
* She engages in populistic wording and abuses too much of the word “pueblo”, even her daily press conference has a sign that says “conferencia del pueblo”.
* She also keeps giving too much praise to Lopez Obrador. I think she needs to let go of that and focus on the present and on the future.
* It makes me really sick that the federal government image resembles the image of “morena” using a similar color.
* Last but not least, I think the judicial election is going to be a big mess. It’s just an expensive gimmick so that “morena” can own that power.
I am more positive than negative on the President, much more, but your list of risks, I agree 100%.
I wish I felt better about President Sheinbaum. I believe she’s very intelligent. She is aware that if you give the people money, they will universally support you. Unfortunately, the poor who benifit most from her socialist policies are typically less educated and/or informed. Most of the educated world knew that the original tariff threat was part of Trump’s negotiation tactics. And Trump won. He got Mexico to place 10K troops at the border, he got Sheinbaum (who has stated it is a coordinated effort) to allow spy planes and drones to increase missions over Mexico, with this information the military has made some large busts and arrests – which is what Trump wanted. What did she “win”? Trump is still coming with tariffs. She makes sure to talk about Mexico’s sovereignty, going so far as to discuss a Constitutional ammendment to that point. But what will it actually accomplish? What I see is smoke and mirrors. I do agree she mentions AMLO far too much, and Morena is too connected to the cartels as was discussed at length when he was President. Economic growth projections continue to be reduced, foreign investment is dwindling, IF tariffs are enacted Mexico’s economy will be in serious trouble. Yes,the US will feel it as well – but realistically, there is not the same pressure on the US – and Trump doesn’t care about what happens to the Americans who would feel it the most. What he’s done to farmers and Federal employees is proof he’s not afraid of people suffering from his ideologies.
At the end of the day, if President Sheinbaum needed to withdraw from some of her Social policies and use that money to manage other areas of the government, her approval rating would fall fast. Remember, we’re only 5 weeks into Trump’s 4 year term. Sheinbaum hasn’t begun to “deal” with Trump and his insane policies. I’ve said it before, and I still believe, that President Sheinbaum will have to make some difficult decisions that Mexico has never faced before. She can work with the US, get serious about fighting the cartels, provide security for Mexico’s people which will encourage investment and bring Mexico into the 21st century. Or she can continue to argue with the US, let the cartels continue pretty much as is, and drag Mexico back decades. I feel she has an opportunity to be remembered as one of the best Presidents Mexico has ever seen, or alternatively, the President who blew the opportunities Mexico had in front of it. Unfortunately, the cartels are woven into so much of Mexico, and Trump is making this a priority, that she will have to DO something. Please check out the Council on Foreign Relations for a terrific history and unbiased, non-partisan, and most importantly – factual, look at Mexico’s long history with cartels and the cartels influence on essentially all aspects of Mexican society and government. 🤙✌️❤️
President Sheinbaum is living in a “fantasy” world. who can’t comprehend all the real problems around her and are facing all the Mexican people. She is just a “young’, who thought being the President of Mexico was a “piece of cake. Totally wrong on all her thinking. ” She is “too immature” to grasp all the real serious problems is facing. All she does is “brag” about keeping the soverenty of Mexico. Has little or no knowledge how-to address real problems. I agree with Jim statement above. The problems she faces every day at her press meetings, is that she “simply has nothing “new “in the way of changes, to tell the people. She sent her Economic Secretary Marcelo Ebrard to Washington which didn’t accomplish anything and was a wasteful trip. She thinks Trump is going to invade Mexico and therefore, makes a “big “issue about not being afraid of Trump. Nothing is going to happen. All Trump is trying to do is put enough pressure for her government to “stop” and completely eliminate the drug traffic to the United States and to handle Cartel on the Mexican side of the border. and who are destroying the “real fabric” of Mexico and the entire nation. The high % numbers listed above in the three (3)”POLS shown, are “wrong and too high to tell what is really happening in Mexico. Don’t believe them and be completely “fooled”. Trump doesn’t want or need Mexico for anything. The U.S farmers also know how to “grow” avocados”.
Constructive criticism: The combination of the know-it-all attitude with the absolutely ridiculous use of quotation marks makes this comment impossible to take seriously. Suggestion: Rethink the quotation mark usage; it’s really bad.
👍
Art do you really think an MBA from WHARTON School of Business is given to idiots? And This same person,as a Private Citizen, has built a Billion $$ business WORLDWIDE…Definitely NOT a political insider.
Judging from what the twin villains trump & musk have done to the UsLSA I cannot accept your prediction as to what they would do to the UMS.
IF SHE LISTENS WELL; REALITY BECOMES OBVIOUS QUICKLY
Watch this on Youtube: How Cartels Actually Operate in America: Drug Trafficking, Sicario’s, and High-Ranking Members
Can’t post the link here. Bleak assessment of cartels and their ties with politicians.
I have seen this. It is very good. I wish more people researched the subjects they comment on. There are several good mini documentaries on the subject out there. Although most people understand that corruption in Mexico is just a fact of life, the more you look into it, the cartels are close to running the country. From the military and police, to controlling the politicians, and backing their beliefs/wishes with extreme violence. It explains a lot as to why AMLO, and now Sheinbaum choose not to go too hard on the cartels. Also, I too have tried to share links and this site doesn’t allow it. 🤙✌️❤️
She doesn’t have to worry about Trump as long as she is fair on trade and keeps the illegals from making it to the northern border. She also has a problem with re-integrating 6 million of them back into Mexico. I’m sure she’s aware of these things and realizes that in a trade war with the u.s. she can’t win. Yes, America will suffer some from reciprocal tariffs but they can easily outlast Mexico. Trump knows this too. Mexicans are welcome in the u.s. but through the legal process. Viva Mexico!
As a Canadian
I so admire her stance on the Felon
We’re so tied to America it’s scary
Tourism to the states has dropped dramatically
The United States is not unlike Germany in the 1930ies
Fascism going rampant
So so sad
Do a little research. Fascism is a leftist ideology similar to socialism.
This is nonsense. You should do a little research yourself and I suggest that you start with a dictionary. Fascism is anything but a leftist ideology. As far as socialism is concerned the right embraces it as much as anyone. What do you call subsidies to oil companies? How about subsidies to ranchers and farmers? Do you think that all the money we give to Elon Musk’s space companies isn’t socialism??? Get real.
and up is down and down is up
Mutual assured destruction if tRump goes ahead with tariffs.
This same article and comments were published yesterday.
Jim Grice.. I’m pretty sure plain jim is a brainwashed magat fan and has no knowledge, interest or understanding of geopolitics… So argument with him is pretty much like talking to “tiny parts” trump… Unable to comprehend anything of substance…🇨🇦🇲🇽🇲🇦
Jim. C’mon man. This is too easy, and YOU shuld have done YOUR homework. Wikipedia defines fascism as follows…
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.
Now, I will concede that far right and far left authoritarian regimes tend to have very similar characteristics as far as suppression of dissent, jailing of opponents, muzzling the press, fixed or no elections, and dictatorial control of government policies.
Where the far right & left differ is in who/where the money flows to. In both far right & left cases, it firstly goes to the dictator and his most slavish elites.
In the case of the far right, the rest flows to oligarchs and large industries (hello Vladdie Putin).
In the case of the far left, it tends to flow to the people and social causes (hello Hugo Chavez and Joe Stalin).
Generally a centrist approach (not right or left dominant) with reasonably balanced wealth distributions are demonstrably better for society, leading to more democracy, freedom, health, and happiness.
Very Popular topic here!!!!! She has a great opportunity here to set Mexico in the right direction. Previously, the Bar has Not been set very high. The basics on tarrifs is simple: Why does an automobile manufactured in US valued at $50,000 have a value of $85,000 in another Country? Reciprocity IS a very good idea.