Donald Trump More Unpopular Than Ever As American Public Slams The President In Latest Polls
According to the latest public polling conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News, most Americans think President Donald Trump is doing an abysmal job as commander in chief, with almost all of his measures receiving high disapproval scores.
With tensions between the U.S. and North Korea continuing to escalate, two-thirds of Americans are opposed to preemptive military action against Pyongyang. Moreover, the poll found that the majority of participants do not trust Trump to handle the response to Kim Jong-un’s agitations and threats, decidedly preferring military generals to take charge instead of the president.
Only 37 percent of adult Americans are prepared to place their trust in Trump’s hands, while 42 percent wouldn’t trust the president “at all.” By sharp contrast, a stunning 72 percent of respondents unequivocally place their confidence in the custodianship of U.S. military leaders.
A whopping 57 percent of the public disapprove of President Trump’s job performance thus far, with 48 percent “strongly disapprove.” Meanwhile, only 39 percent approve.
Over the past week, the politically charged rhetoric between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un reached record levels of antagonism, causing great concern among Americans. During a speech delivered at a gathering at the United Nations, Trump threatened to destroy North Korea while referring to their leader as “rocket man.”
On the other side of the Pacific, Kim Jong-un called Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard,” with Trump retorting that Jong-un is a “madman.”
Trump, an inexperienced diplomat, has raised alarm bells among foreign policy experts who believe the president’s taunts are incredibly dangerous.
Along partisan lines, a mere 11 percent of Democratic participants in the Washington Post-ABC News poll has faith in Trump’s ability to respond effectively to the North Korean nuclear threat. On the other side of the aisle, three-quarters of Republicans believe that Trump can manage the diplomatic crisis.
A more positive view of Trump is evident in the public’s favorable ratings with regards to the president’s handling of the hurricane disaster situation in the southeast United States. The poll found that 65 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s agreement with Democrats to raise disaster relief funding limits.
More specifically, two-thirds of Democrats and roughly six in 10 independents support the agreement, while more than three-quarters of Republicans approve of the measure.
Nevertheless, the positive views of Trump’s response to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have not succeeded in raising the overall ratings of the president’s other policy proposals. Only 43 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s economic actions, while 49 percent disapprove.
A significant 62 percent of respondents disapprove of Trump’s immigration policies, with 51 percent “strongly” disapproving.
Moreover, the majority of U.S. citizens participating in the poll believe that Trump is a divisive leader, doing more to pit Americans against each other than working towards national unity. Interestingly, this figure is substantially more negative than those of former Presidents Obama and Bush.
More detailed data can be viewed on the Washington Post results page.
The Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted between September 18 and September 21 among a random national sample of 1,002 adults. The sampling margin of error carries an overall figure of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
[Featured Image by Brynn Anderson/AP Images]
