Trump Latest Approval Rating: Most Americans Disapprove, Except For Economy

As controversies continue to swirl around President Donald Trump’s administration, a majority of Americans have disapproved of his work during his first couple of months in the White House, a new poll released Friday showed. However, Americans were optimistic about Trump’s ability to handle the economy.

Almost 6 in 10 Americans disapproved of Trump’s job performance and stated the country was moving in the wrong direction, a joint Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll showed.

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But the Republican Trump, who’s been embroiled in battles within his party over his proposed budget and the failed attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare, fared much better with Americans when it came to the economy. Fifty percent approved of his work on the economy, compared to 48 percent who disapproved.

Altogether, 58 percent disapproved of Trump and only 42 percent approved. Those numbers, while not strong, were better than other approval ratings that showed Trump reached a personal low of 36 percent earlier this week. Gallup’s poll, like the AP’s, was undertaken in the three days after Republicans and Trump pulled the American Health Care Act for a vote last week, and resulted in a 5 percent plunge from 41 percent approval to the new low.

Though, Gallup’s poll showed many presidents had hit much lower approval ratings well before Trump. President George W. Bush once reached 25 percent, Ronald Reagan went as low as 35 percent and Harry Truman fell even lower to 22 percent.

Trump’s approval rating continued to show a deep partisan rift among Americans, but not when it came to the economy. Only about 20 percent of those who identified as Republicans disapproved of Trump, while 6 out of 10 independents disapproved.

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Still, 53 percent of Democrats, 54 percent of independents and 64 percent of Republicans described the economy as “good.”

Other recent polls last week showed Trump still had strong support among his Republican base, and he even gained more support when scandals arose.