Trump Returns: Is the Public Ready for Round Two? 🎙️

  

[Trump Returns: Is the Public Ready for Round Two?]

▶ keyword: trump, policy, tariff, presidency, sentiment analysis, LDA, Topicmodeling

Intro.

Since Donald Trump's inauguration in January 2025, nearly three months have passed, prompting renewed scrutiny of his leadership and policy direction. This report explores how the media has portrayed Trump’s early presidency through sentiment analysis of related news articles. By assessing the tone of media coverage, we aim to capture public and journalistic perceptions during this formative period.

Additionally, we utilize Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to identify the major policy themes that have defined Trump’s initial months in office. These topics help us understand the administration's focus areas and strategic priorities.

1. Dataset Overview 📑

To examine the media’s response during the early days of Trump's presidency, Google News articles were collected from January 20, the date of his inauguration, up to the time of writing this report.

2. Sentiment Analysis 📊

Sentiment analysis of news articles published following Trump’s inauguration indicates that media responses during the early phase of his presidency were generally negative. Negative sentiment accounted for 51.4% of the coverage, comprising more than half of the total, while positive sentiment remained notably low at just 4.2%.

Moreover, when the proportions of positive and negative articles are examined over time, the trend line for negative sentiment reveals a gradual upward slope of 0.0012, suggesting a slow but steady rise in critical coverage of Trump’s governance. In contrast, the trend line for positive sentiment shows a slight downward slope of –0.0001, indicating a marginal decline in favorable reporting during the same period.

The topic modeling results reveal that the most prominent themes in early media coverage of Trump’s 2025 presidency center on trade policy and domestic political conflict, accounting for 32.4% and 31.4% of token distributions respectively. This suggests that economic nationalism and internal governance challenges are perceived as defining features of Trump’s early presidential agenda.

 

2️⃣ Topic 1: Trump's Global Trade Policy and Tariff Strategy

This topic focuses on President Trump’s renewed tariff-based trade policy, highlighted by the April 2025 announcement of a “reciprocal tariff” system. The policy imposes a standard 10% tariff on all countries and up to 49% on nations with large trade surpluses, targeting key partners like China, Canada, and Mexico. 

While intended to boost U.S. manufacturing and reduce the trade deficit, the move has shaken global markets and raised concerns over rising prices and supply chain disruptions. The strategy reflects Trump’s continued emphasis on economic nationalism and tough trade negotiation tactics.

 

2️⃣ Topic 2: Trump Administration’s Domestic Policy and Political Conflict

This topic centers on the Trump administration’s assertive domestic agenda, including federal budget cuts, education policy reforms, and executive actions affecting immigration and social programs. These moves have intensified political conflict between Republicans and Democrats, especially over issues like ESG regulations and federal funding for schools and scientific research. 

The administration’s efforts to expand federal control over state-level policies have sparked debates on states’ rights and heightened political polarization. The strategy reflects Trump’s intent to reassert centralized federal authority and implement socially conservative reforms aligned with his political base.

 

3️⃣ Topic 3: Trump’s Foreign Policy and the War in Ukraine

This topic highlights President Trump’s unconventional diplomatic approach to the Ukraine war, including his direct communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin and calls for a negotiated ceasefire. Trump has expressed trust in Putin’s intentions for peace, sparking international debate and caution from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. 

He has also employed executive orders and legal tools to influence foreign policy, signaling a shift from traditional diplomatic norms. The strategy reflects Trump’s intent to redefine America’s global role through assertive leadership and legal maneuvering, rather than multilateral consensus.

 

4️⃣ Topic 4: Trump’s Remarks and Global Market Reactions

This topic explores how President Trump’s public statements and policy announcements have triggered immediate volatility in global financial markets. His comments on tariffs, foreign policy, and major corporations like Tesla have led to notable fluctuations in stock prices and investor sentiment. Markets have responded with caution, particularly to his unpredictable communication style and abrupt policy shifts.

The strategy reflects Trump’s belief in using bold public messaging as an economic tool, directly influencing market behavior and shaping investor expectations. 

4. Sentiment Analysis by Topic 📊

Among all topics, Trump Administration’s Domestic Policy and Political Conflict recorded the highest proportion of negative sentiment at 55.83%, reflecting strong criticism from the media and public toward domestic governance. 

Meanwhile, Trump’s Global Trade Policy and Tariff Strategy displayed the steepest upward trend in negative sentiment (slope = 0.0024), indicating increasing disapproval over time. This suggests that while domestic issues remain the most heavily criticized, concerns surrounding trade policy are intensifying and may become more central in future discourse.

Outro.

Based on the analysis in this report, media coverage of President Trump’s early 2025 term has been largely negative. Topic modeling results show that his early governance has focused primarily on trade policy, domestic political conflict, and foreign affairs. The consistently critical tone across these areas suggests a growing gap between policy direction and public expectation. It may be helpful for the Trump administration to take these media sentiments into account as a reference point for future decision-making.