Poll: Trump's approval rating, the worst in recent history, is starting to rise again

Allan Smith
Updated

President Donald Trump's approval rating, the worst for a US commander-in-chief in recent history over the first quarter of his presidency, has begun slowly climbing back up.

Gallup's daily presidential tracking poll found Trump's approval at 43% on Thursday, a 1-point increase from the prior day. During the past three weeks, Trump's approval has risen from a presidential low of 35% on his 69th day in office — a catastrophic number that early in an administration — to 43% on his 91st day in office, an 8-point increase.

The jump is the largest increase Trump has achieved in the Gallup rating since the start of his presidency, and his approval rating of 43% is the highest it's been since March 11, when it hit 45%. His all-time high was 46%, achieved during his first week in office.

The low point for Trump came after a week that featured the failure of the American Health Care Act, the Republican healthcare bill that was pulled from the House floor after it became clear it did not have enough votes to pass.

Also, that week followed FBI Director James Comey confirming publicly that the bureau was investigating Trump associates in connection with Russia's attempts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election. Recently, the Russia-related cloud of controversy hanging over his administration has fallen slightly into the background as Trump has made a number of aggressive foreign policy moves related to Syria, Afghanistan, and North Korea. The president has also reversed his stances on several issues, including Syria, Russia, China, and NATO.

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But even at 43%, Trump is well behind where other post-World War II presidents were in terms of their approval ratings at this point in their presidencies. Of the past nine presidents, the lowest approval rating for the first quarter in office, spanning the January inauguration through mid-April, belonged to President Bill Clinton, who owned a Gallup approval rating of 55%. The average approval rating at this stage for the past nine presidents was a tick above 63%.

And earlier this week, in no small likelihood due to Trump's reversals on some issues, and a lack of action on others, Gallup found the percentage of Americans who believed Trump will keep the promises he made along the campaign trail dipped from 62% in February to 45% this month.

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