Trump ‘off the cliff’ except for economy
WASHINGTON — Most Americans disapprove of Donald Trump’s overall performance two months into his presidency. But they’re more upbeat about at least one critical area: his handling of the economy.
Nearly 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of Trump’s overall performance, and about the same percentage say the country is headed in the wrong direction, according to a poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The poll was conducted amid the collapse of the GOP’s health care overhaul.
But the poll also found a brighter spot for the businessman-politician on the economy, often a major driver of presidential success or failure. There, Americans split about evenly, with 50 percent approving and 48 percent disapproving of Trump’s efforts.
“He’s driving the car off the cliff in every other kind of policy and executive action he’s trying to push through, but (not) the economy,” said Ryan Mills, 27, a tobacco company chemist from Greensboro, N.C.
Overall, 42 percent of Americans approve and 58 percent disapprove of the job Trump is doing.
By contrast, at this point in their presidencies, Barack Obama’s approval rating was above 60 percent in Gallup polling and George W. Bush’s was above 50 percent. Gallup’s own measure of Trump’s approval has dipped below 40 percent.
The AP-NORC poll did show Republicans are still far more likely to approve than disapprove of Trump — a fifth of GOP respondents said they don’t approve of his performance. Among independents, six in 10 disapprove.
The poll of 1,110 adults was conducted March 2327. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.