Economy a Strength for Trump; Russia, Environment Weaknesses

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Half of Americans approve of the way President Donald Trump is handling the economy, his highest score on nine issues tested in the latest Gallup poll, and the only one that exceeds his overall job approval rating by a significant margin. His worst ratings are on the environment and relations with Russia, which are the only two significantly worse than his overall approval rating.

	Approve	Disapprove
	%	%
The economy	50	47
The situation with North Korea	46	50
Gun policy	43	53
Foreign trade	39	56
Foreign affairs	39	58
Education	39	54
Immigration	38	61
The environment	35	61
Relations with Russia	35	61
Gallup, Aug. 1-12, 2018

 

The Aug. 1-12 Gallup poll finds 42% of Americans approving of the job Trump is doing overall. His overall approval rating in the separate Gallup tracking survey for the weeks ending Aug. 5 and Aug. 12 were 41% and 39%, respectively.

In the six times Gallup has measured Trump approval on the issues, the economy has either been his best issue or tied for his best (with terrorism, which was not included in the current survey).

He has averaged a 48% approval rating for handling the economy thus far in office, which exceeds the combined average 45% economic approval for his five immediate predecessors across their entire terms. Bill Clinton's 57% average economic approval is the highest of presidents since Ronald Reagan, the first president for whom Gallup regularly measured issue approval ratings.

On foreign affairs, the other major focus area for all presidents, 39% of Americans currently approve of Trump. He has averaged a 38% approval rating for handling foreign affairs to date, which is substantially worse than the combined 50% average of the past five presidents. Reagan (44%) and Barack Obama (45%) have the lowest foreign affairs approval ratings among these presidents, while George H.W. Bush has the highest, at 63%.

Foreign affairs is one of six issues in the poll for which Trump's approval rating is not meaningfully different from his current overall approval rating. The others are the situation with North Korea, gun policy, foreign trade, education and immigration.

Trump Issue Ratings Mostly Stable

Six of the issues included in the current survey were also measured in February. Since then, Trump's approval rating for handling the situation with North Korea has increased modestly from 41% to 46%, likely a response to the June summit meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Over the past six months, Trump's approval rating for handling foreign trade has declined significantly, from 46% to 39%, as the administration has engaged in a trade war with China and other countries.

Trump's approval on the economy, foreign affairs, immigration and relations with Russia are statistically unchanged since February.

	Approve (February)	Approve (August)	Change
	%	%	pct. pts.
The situation with North Korea	41	46	+5
Foreign affairs	39	39	0
The economy	51	50	-1
Relations with Russia	37	35	-2
Immigration	41	38	-3
Foreign trade	46	39	-7
Gallup

 

Gallup previously asked about Trump's handling of the environment in June 2017, at which time 32% approved, essentially the same as now.

The current poll is the first time Gallup has asked Americans to assess Trump's handling of education and gun policy.

Economy Trump's Best Issue for All Party Groups

While Republicans rate Trump more highly than independents and Democrats on all nine issues measured in the poll, the rank order of approval ratings is about the same for all three party groups. Trump gets his highest scores from Republicans, independents and Democrats for the economy. Republicans and independents are least positive about Trump's handling of the environment and Russia. Those two issues tie with immigration as Trump's worst among Democrats.

No fewer than 74% of Republicans approve of Trump on any issue, and no fewer than 79% of Democrats disapprove of him, with 90% or higher disapproval from Democrats on four of the nine issues.

Half or more of independents disapprove of Trump on each issue, including roughly two-thirds who do so on immigration, the environment and Russia.

	Republicans		Independents		Democrats
	% Approve	% Disapprove	% Approve	% Disapprove	% Approve	% Disapprove
The economy	90	10	46	51	19	79
The situation with North Korea	83	14	44	50	12	84
Gun policy	85	13	38	55	9	88
Foreign trade	82	17	32	60	9	87
Foreign affairs	80	17	32	62	8	90
Education	76	18	34	58	9	84
Immigration	81	18	31	67	5	94
The environment	74	23	29	65	6	93
Relations with Russia	74	24	28	65	7	91
Gallup, Aug. 1-12, 2018

 

Implications

Consistent with Trump's low overall approval ratings, he receives lackluster ratings from Americans for handling specific issues. The economy is the only one of nine tested in the latest poll for which approval of Trump exceeds disapproval. That issue has been a relative bright spot for Trump, as he governs at a time of a relatively strong economy. So far, Trump's approval on the economy is higher than what recent presidents have typically had. However, Trump's predecessors took office during a U.S. recession (Reagan and Obama) or shortly after one ended (Clinton), or were in office when a U.S. recession began (George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush).

With Trump's overall approval rating running close to 10 percentage points below his economic approval rating, it appears other factors are more influential in Americans' assessments of how he is doing. The other factors could be issues like foreign affairs, immigration or trade, on which his approval is closer to his overall approval rating. But they could be non-issue-related, like his personal characteristics, or more simply a result of a Republican president governing in an increasingly politically polarized era.

Explore President Trump's approval ratings and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.