Temperament and tweets trip up Trump

Optimism about economy isn’t broadening new president’s support, new survey shows

President Trump WASHINGTON gets high marks for leadership amid growing economic optimism, a new USA TODAY/ Suffolk University Poll finds, but questions about his temperament and tweets have cost him the political boost that a president traditionally gets from that good news.

The survey Wednesday through Sunday shows Trump getting little bounce from his well- received address to Congress last week or from a brightening view of the country’s direction. Instead, 47% approve of the job he’s doing and 44% disapprove, a bit better than some other recent polls but a poor rating historically. He is the first president in modern times not to score majority approval at this early point in his tenure.

By a 2- 1 margin, those surveyed disapprove of Trump’s temperament. Six in 10, including 40% of Republicans, complain that he tweets too much.

The findings reinforce the exasperation among Trump allies that the president’s actions are undermining his potential standing and weakening his ability to get things done.

“He’s kept all those campaign promises,” Georgiann Johnson, 41, a stay- at- home mom and Trump supporter from Springfield, Ill., said in an interview. Times are good; she and her family are buying their first home. “I’m way more optimistic about the economy now than I was a year ago,” she says.

But Linda Shaw, 63, a professor at the University of Arizona in Tucson who also was among those polled, expresses alarm about Trump’s “level of focus, maturity, the ever- present degree or narcissism and lack of judgment. ... Far from clearing the swamp, the swamp is teeming and overflowing, and I have serious concerns about the future of the country if the course continues as it currently is.”

STRONG DIVIDE

Views of the president are not only polarized but fiercely held. Thirty percent “strongly disapprove” of the job the president is doing; 23% “strongly approve.”

Whatever their views of Trump, Americans feel better about the state of the nation. By a margin of 46%- 43%, they say the country is headed in the right direction. That’s not exactly euphoria, but it does reflect a 12- point swing toward the bright side compared with a USA TODAY/ Suffolk Poll in December.

What’s more, 52% say the economy is in a recovery, a majority view rarely seen since the housing crisis and financial meltdown in 2008 spiraled into the Great Recession.

‘ IT’S SO HIGH SCHOOL’

The feeling that good times are returning doesn’t seem to be rebounding to the benefit of Trump, though 55% of Americans credit him with showing leadership during his first six weeks in office. Even one in five Democrats say he has shown leadership.

“I think he’s trying to do the best he can, but he had better quit that tweeting,” says Ray DeHart, 74, a retiree and one- time Democrat from Hillsville, Va., who counts himself as a strong Trump supporter. “It just gives the news media more fuel to fan the fires, as the old saying goes.”

“It’s so high school, or junior high school,” scoffs Rosa Ledesma, 55, of California’s San Fernando Valley.

Just 28% describe his tweets as a good way for him to communicate directly with Americans.

The bottom line: Trump continues to hold the 46% of the electorate who voted for him on Election Day, but he has failed to expand in any meaningful way his support to those who didn’t.

An overwhelming 88% of Republicans approve of the job he’s doing, most of them strongly. But 81% of Democrats oppose him, most of them strongly. Independents are split 44%- 42%.

Some of Trump’s policy positions align with public opinion.

uOn Social Security and Medicare, 72% agree with his promise to protect the programs from cuts.

uOn the Affordable Care Act, half say it should be repealed but only after a comprehensive plan is ready to take its place; 17% say it should be repealed as soon as possible. One in four say Congress shouldn’t repeal it at all.

On other issues, he faces a stark divide or even majority opposition:

uOn his budget outline — adding $ 54 billion to defense and security spending while slashing domestic and other programs — Americans were split: 46% support his plan and 48% oppose it.

uOn immigration, his action to accelerate deportations of illegal immigrants even if they haven’t committed a serious crime is opposed 49%- 40%.

“I’m way more optimistic about the economy now than I was a year ago.” Georgiann Johnson, Trump supporter in Springfield, Ill.

AP President Trump has called the news media the enemy; 34% agree.