Story highlights New CNN poll shows Melania Trump's approval numbers holding steady

The first lady trumps her husband by seven points

(CNN) A new CNN poll shows first lady Melania Trump remains more popular than her husband, President Donald Trump. Mrs. Trump is at a 47% favorable rating, while the President's approval number stands at 40%, according to the CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

The first lady has for the most part seen steady positivity for much of the past year, peaking in March at 52%, but holding in the mid-to-upper 40s for the past several months. At a private, black-tie dinner at the White House last September, the President introduced his wife to guests by calling her, "the star of the Trump family," saying, "they love her out there, I'll tell you. We walked all over Florida. We walked all over Texas, and they're loving Melania, and she just enjoys helping them with what she's doing and working with you folks."

One year ago, Melania Trump's approval number stood at 36%, with a whopping 23% having no opinion of her whatsoever. Today, that figure stands at 16%, as Mrs Trump, whose profile is admittedly lower than that of her predecessor, Michelle Obama, continues to develop a signature cause and grow more comfortable with her public role.

These latest results put Mrs. Trump's unfavorable rating at 37%, while her husband's disapproval is at 55%. And while Mrs. Trump is herself an immigrant, her favorable number among that group only stands at 23%, while 50% of those born in the United States give her a positive ranking. As expected, Republicans are Mrs. Trump's top supporters, at 79% favorable, versus 23% of Democrats who view her positively. And she continues to be more popular with men than women, 53% as opposed to 41%, respectively. Younger Americans aren't as pleased with the first lady as the older generation; her biggest fans according to this poll, are over the age of 50.

The CNN Poll was conducted by SSRS January 14-18 among a random national sample of 1,005 adults reached on landlines or cellphones by a live interviewer. No interviewing was completed on January 16 due to weather conditions at call center locations. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points, it is larger for subgroups.