President Donald Trump is giving himself high marks three months into his White House tenure, but surveys show American voters mostly have a negative view of his performance.
“No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days — that includes on military, on the border, on trade, on regulation, on law enforcement — we love our law enforcement — and on government reform,” he boasted this week.
Trump has edged up in favorability ratings after launching a missile attack on Syria two weeks ago in response to a chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians. The Gallup poll, however, says voters still view his presidency negatively by a 52-to-42-percent margin, while the Quinnipiac University poll pegs the president’s negative-to-positive rating at 56 percent to 40 percent.
In the latest poll, Politico/Morning Consult said Thursday that 39 percent of voters give the real estate mogul turned politician an “A” or “B” for his performance so far, while almost as many, 37 percent, give him a “D” or “F.”
Politico, an Internet political news site, said the polling is a reflection of the continuing sharp political divide in the United States, with opposition Democrats, for the most part, remaining staunchly opposed to the Republican president, while Republicans are generally more supportive.
The survey showed that two-thirds of self-identified Democrats gave Trump a D or F grade, while 42 percent of Trump voters in last November’s election gave Trump a “B” grade, even as another 23 percent of Republicans rated him as a “C” or worse.
Quinnipiac’s poll, mirroring Gallup’s finding, showed Trump’s approval rating improving a bit after he ordered the missile attack on the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Quinnipiac said Trump’s 16-point negative favorable-to-unfavorable rating was slightly better than the 22-point negative standing recorded just before the assault.
Even so, Quinnipiac pollster Tim Malloy said, “With only a slight bombing bump, President Donald Trump stays mired in miserable numbers. The first 100 days draw to a close with character flaws overwhelming his strongest traits, intelligence and strength as a person.”
According to Quinnipiac, U.S. voters approve, by a 45-to-42-percent margin, of Trump’s handling of the threat of North Korea’s nuclear weapons development program.
But they have negative opinions of some of Trump’s personal qualities.
By wide margins, Americans believe he is not honest, does not have good leadership skills, does not care about average Americans, is not level-headed and does not share their values. By wide margins, voters said they believe Trump is a strong person and is intelligent.
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