Trump's Job Approval Stabilizing at Lower Level.
Byline: Jeffrey M. Jones
Synopsis: President Donald Trump's job approval rating has been either 34% or 35% in Gallup Daily tracking since Aug. 20, producing a new low weekly average of 35% for Aug. 21-27.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Donald Trump's job approval rating has stabilized, registering 34% or 35% in each Gallup Daily tracking three-day rolling average since Aug. 20, including 35% in the latest update based on Aug. 27-29 interviewing. The 34% approval ratings recorded last week tie the Aug. 11-13 measurement as the lowest Trump has had as president.
After starting out in the mid-40s, Trump's job approval rating has been below the 40% mark in each month since February. He is on pace to spend the entire month of August below 40%, with his job approval rating last at 40% on July 11.
The stable, lower job approval ratings in recent days produced a 35% weekly average for Trump during the week of Aug. 21-27. This is the lowest weekly average of his presidency.
Because of the recent pattern, Trump's full-term approval average since he took office in January has now fallen below 40% for the first time, to 39%. The historically low job approval ratings for Trump are well-documented, but the weakness of his 39% term average to date is stark:
Trump still has nearly five months left in his first year in office, and three full years beyond that until his first term is over. His unusually low ratings so far mean his support will need to improve substantially to avoid leaving office with the worst approval ratings a president has had by a significant margin.
Democratic Approval of Trump Stuck in Single Digits
The chances of Trump's ratings improving substantially, however, are hampered by his low support among Democrats, a major reason why his overall approval is so low. In Aug. 21-27 Gallup polling, an average of 7% of Democrats said they approve of the job Trump is doing.
Single-digit approval ratings of the president are not uncommon in the recent era of highly polarized job approval ratings. Obama and George W. Bush registered many single-digit approval ratings from Republicans and Democrats, respectively, while in office. But neither did so for the first time until much later in his presidency -- Obama in October 2010, nearly two years into his presidency, and Bush in October 2004, during his fourth year in office.
In contrast, Trump fell below 10% job approval among Democrats his second full week in office. Although Trump has seen some...
To continue reading
Request your trial