First Lady Melania Trump has landed in second-to-last place in a new popularity ranking of recent first ladies, but it was her husband’s 2016 rival Hillary Clinton who claimed the dubious distinction of being America’s most disliked, according to a YouGov poll released this week.
The survey asked 2,255 U.S. citizens earlier this month to rate the 11 most recent first ladies on a scale from “outstanding” to “poor.” The results paint a stark picture of public opinion toward the current occupant of the East Wing.
Thirty-six percent of respondents rated Melania Trump as “poor,” while another 10 percent called her “below average.” On the positive side, roughly 18 percent ranked her as “outstanding” and another 12 percent said she was “above average.” The combination left her with a net approval rating of negative 16 points.
But former First Lady Hillary Clinton edged out Melania for the lowest spot. The poll found that approximately 33 percent of people rated Clinton as “poor,” with an additional 11 percent calling her “below average,” giving her a net rating of negative 17 points. Clinton lost the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump in a race that divided the nation and continues to shape political discourse today.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Jackie Kennedy dominated as America’s most beloved first lady with a net rating of positive 56 points. Rosalynn Carter and Nancy Reagan followed with ratings of positive 32 and positive 25, respectively.
Michelle Obama also proved popular among survey participants, with 33 percent calling her “outstanding” and 12 percent rating her “above average,” producing a net approval rating of positive 21 points. Roughly 22 percent ranked her as “poor.”
The poll revealed an intriguing pattern about how Americans view first ladies compared to their presidential husbands. “Opinion of first ladies generally is politically polarized in a similar way to opinion of their husbands,” YouGov noted in its analysis.
That connection held true for the Trumps. President Donald Trump received even lower marks than his wife, with a net rating of negative 20 points. The survey found that 48 percent of respondents consider him “poor,” while another 6 percent rated him “below average.” Trump received the lowest rating of any of the 20 presidents YouGov included in the survey. Approximately 19 percent ranked him as “outstanding.”
Former President Joe Biden came in as the second least popular president, with 38 percent saying he was “poor” and 12 percent calling him “below average.” His net rating landed at negative 27 points. Only 7 percent ranked Biden as “outstanding.”
Richard Nixon claimed third place in presidential unpopularity, with 27 percent rating him “poor” and 21 percent “below average.”
America’s most admired presidents proved to be Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and George Washington. Seventy-four percent rated Lincoln as “outstanding” or “above average,” while 66 percent gave Kennedy the same high marks and 65 percent said the same of Washington. Kennedy’s net rating reached positive 61 points, matching the admiration Americans hold for his wife Jacqueline, who scored positive 56.
The pattern held across several presidential couples. Ronald and Nancy Reagan registered nearly identical ratings at positive 22 and positive 25, respectively. Barack and Michelle Obama scored positive 15 and positive 21.
Hillary Clinton stood out as the only first lady to score significantly lower than her husband. Bill Clinton’s net rating came in at negative 3 points—still unpopular but notably better than his wife’s negative 17.
The timing of the poll arrives amid heightened attention on the first lady following the release of “Melania,” a controversial 104-minute documentary. The film earned $7 million during its opening weekend but saw ticket sales plunge 67 percent to just $2.37 million in its second week. Amazon paid $40 million to acquire the rights to the documentary and spent an additional $35 million promoting it—eye-popping sums that The Hollywood Reporter called “the most expensive” documentary deal in history.
Separate Economist/YouGov polls released in January and February 2026 showed both Melania and Donald Trump registering 41 percent favorable ratings, demonstrating that the couple’s public standing remains closely aligned.
When YouGov conducted similar polling in 2023, Melania showed slight improvement from her current standing. Back then, 39 percent of people rated her as “poor” or “below average,” compared to 37 percent who held the same view of Hillary Clinton.
The survey, conducted with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points, offers a snapshot of how deeply partisan politics shapes American views of first ladies and presidents alike in an era of intense political polarization.
