Majority of Americans disapprove of Trump's leadership, survey reveals

America does not approve

Early into his second term, US President Donald Trump is encountering low approval ratings, recent polls reveal. A substantial number of Americans disapprove of his performance, signaling widespread dissatisfaction.

A terrible leader in his second term

On April 26th, new poll findings from the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that roughly four in ten Americans believe Trump has been a terrible leader in his second term, though it's quite partisan. 

Breaking down the numbers

Overall, 39% of those polled thought Trump has been terrible in his second term while 13% said he has been poor. Another 16% believe Trump has been average, whereas 13% said he has been good, and another 18% said he has been great. 

Trump is meeting expectations

The latest figures are not much of a change from how views of Trump’s potential future job performance were seen before his inauguration. Similar polling ahead of the inauguration in January revealed very similar results. 

Polling from before the inauguration

In January, 37% of Americans thought Trump would be a good or great president while 46% believed he would be poor or terrible—17% thought Trump would be average. All of these numbers track well with the most recent findings. 

The findings broke along partisan lines

More interesting than how Americans are feeling about Trump roughly 100 days into his latest presidential term is the fact that the findings are very partisan. Americans are quite clearly split along voting lines when it comes to their views on Trump. 

Democrats think Trump is terrible

72% of Democrats viewed Trump as a terrible president in the latest polling while 37% of Independents stated the same. Only 5% of Republicans thought Trump was terrible while 41% said he was great and 27% good. 

Few Dems think Trump has been good

Just 4% of Democrats said Trump was great and 2% that he was good. Independents followed the same trend with 9% saying he was great and 10% good. All of which is to say that the polling provided another data point on the partisan nature of US politics. 

All sides expected these issues

However, while Americans disagreed on Trump’s performance during his first months in office, both sides of the political aisle agreed the President was governing according to what they expected, the polling revealed. 

What the polling revealed

Overall, 71% of those polled said Trump’s second term was mostly what they expected compared to 28% who said his first few months were not what they expected. This was the same for Democrats. However, the numbers were 58% and 40% of Independents. 

Republicans on Trump

Republicans were far more likely (81%) to believe Trump’s first months in office were as they had expected. Only 19% said Trump’s second term was not what they expected. 

Meeting expectations

“While most views of the president and his administration are filtered through a partisan lens, Republicans and Democrats are largely in agreement regarding their expectations for the new administration,” the Associated Press explained.

Trump’s approval is abysmal

Americans were divided on their approval of Trump. Overall he scored 59% disapproval and 39% approval, which the Associated Press noted was a divide that carried “through to Trump’s performance on a range of issues.”

Another partisan problem

Democrat approval on the economy (12%), immigration (16%), trade (13%), and foreign policy (12%) were all low while Republicans overwhelmingly approved of Trump’s policies: the economy (72%), immigration (84%), trade (68%), and foreign policy (75%).

Trump’s strong policy

Americans who were unaffiliated with either party were more approving than Democrats, but the Associated Press noted: “about 3 in 10 approve of Trump’s handling on most issues.” Immigration was Trump’s best issue with Independents at 37% approval. 

Trump isn’t focusing on the right issues

“There is no consensus on whether Trump has the right priorities,” The Associated Press reported, adding many were skeptical. “Forty-four percent think Trump is focusing on the wrong priorities. A quarter think he has the right priorities.”