Trump’s approval drops to 36 per cent
Americans don’t trust president, Putin: poll
U.S. President Donald Trump’s standing with the American people has deteriorated since the spring, buffeted by perceptions of a decline in U.S. leadership abroad, a stalled presidential agenda at home and an unpopular Republican health-care bill, according to a new Washington PostABC News poll.
Approaching six months in office, Trump’s overall approval rating has dropped to 36 per cent from 42 per cent in April. His disapproval rating has risen five points to 58 per cent. Overall, 48 per cent say they “disapprove strongly” of Trump’s performance in office, a level never reached by former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and reached only in the second term of George W. Bush in PostABC polling.
Almost half of all Americans (48 per cent) see the country’s leadership in the world as weaker since Trump was inaugurated, compared with 27 per cent who say it is stronger. Despite the fact that Trump campaigned as someone skilled at making deals that would be good for the country, majorities also say they do not trust him in negotiations with foreign leaders and in particular Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Just over one-third of all Americans say they trust the president either “a great deal” or “a good amount” in any such foreign negotiations. Asked specifically about Trump-Putin negotiations, almost 2 in 3 say they do not trust the president much, including 48 per cent who say they do not trust the president “at all.”
The Post-ABC poll finds 60 per cent of Americans think Russia tried to influence the election outcome, up slightly from 56 per cent in April. Some 44 per cent suspect Russian interference and think Trump benefited from their efforts. Roughly 4 in 10 believe members of Trump’s campaign intentionally aided Russian efforts to influence the election, though suspicions have changed little since the spring.
Americans’ views on Russia’s role in the election continue to divide along partisan lines. Among Democrats, 8 in 10 believe Russia attempted to influence the election and more than 6 in 10 think members of Trump’s team attempted to aid their efforts. But among Republicans, one-third think Russia tried to influence the election outcome, and fewer than 1 in 10 think Trump’s associates sought to help them.
Asked about Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with Russians, more than 6 in 10 Americans say the meeting was inappropriate, with just about a quarter saying it was appropriate. But almost half of all Republicans call the meeting appropriate.
Suspicions of Trump have eased at least slightly on one front. While 52 per cent think he is trying to interfere with investigations into Russia’s possible election interference, that is down slightly from 56 per cent in June.
Trump’s approval rating on the economy is about one-to-one, with 43 per cent giving him positive marks and 41 per cent giving him negative ratings. Meanwhile, fewer than 4 in 10 say the Democratic party currently stands for something, while a slight majority say it “just stands against Trump.”