Trump's Rating on Economy Still Top Strength, Hits New High

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Donald Trump's rating for handling the economy, 56%, is the highest of his presidency and the highest of his approval ratings on any of 14 domestic and foreign issues tested in the latest Gallup poll. Americans' approval of his handling of unemployment is nearly as high, at 54%. At the same time, his overall 43% job approval rating is essentially unchanged since earlier in February but appears to be stabilizing at a higher level than it had been in late 2018 and early 2019.

Still, his overall approval rating is likely dragged down by some of the issues that garner his lowest ratings -- relations with Russia (39%), race relations (38%), corruption in government (37%) and the situation in Syria (35%).

	Approve	Disapprove
	%	%
His job as president	43	54
The economy	56	43
Unemployment	54	42
The situation with North Korea	51	45
National defense	50	47
Relations with China	47	48
Foreign trade	45	50
Taxes	45	52
Immigration	42	57
Foreign affairs	42	56
The federal budget	42	55
Relations with Russia	39	58
Race relations	38	59
Corruption in government	37	60
The situation in Syria	35	55
GALLUP, Feb. 12-28, 2019

 

The poll, conducted Feb. 12-28, found Trump's only other approval rating above the 50% mark was his handling of the situation with North Korea. This 51% approval rating is up five percentage points since August and is the highest Trump has received on the issue during his presidency. Most interviews in the poll were conducted during the runup to his second denuclearization summit with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un on Feb. 27 and 28, which ended abruptly when the two could not reach a deal. Other Gallup polling earlier in February found that Americans' perceptions of North Korea as the greatest enemy of the U.S. had plummeted in the past year.

As the summit with North Korea was taking place, Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified publicly in a congressional hearing which Trump has blamed, at least in part, for the failed denuclearization agreement. Cohen alleged that the president is a "con man" and a "racist" and shed doubt upon his campaign's relationship with Russia -- issues on which Trump earns his lowest approval ratings.

The president's approval ratings on a range of other issues are at or below 50%. These include national defense, relations with China, foreign trade, taxes, immigration, foreign affairs and the federal budget.

Sharp Partisan Differences in Views of Trump

Americans' views of Trump remain sharply polarized along partisan lines. Nine in 10 Republicans approve of the president's job overall and about as many or more approve of his handling the economy, national defense, unemployment, immigration, foreign affairs, the North Korean situation, relations with China and foreign trade.

Republicans' dimmest assessment of the president is for his handling of the Syria situation -- 71% approve, 18% disapprove and 12% have no opinion. Republican lawmakers have roundly criticized Trump's decisions about U.S. involvement in Syria since his announcement in December that he would abruptly withdraw all troops from the country. The Republican backlash and pleas from U.S. allies have slowed down that process, but last week Trump declared that all of the ISIS-controlled territory in Syria had been conquered, a claim disputed by many.

For their part, Democrats' approval of Trump's overall job is 6%, and their approval of his handling all 14 issues measured ranges from 5% to 21%. Democrats' highest approval ratings are 21% for unemployment, 20% for the economy and 17% for the situation with North Korea. Democrats give Trump his lowest ratings for handling relations with Russia, race relations, government corruption and foreign affairs, all garnering no more than 8% approval from Democrats.

	Republicans	Independents	Democrats
	%	%	%
Overall job	90	35	6
The economy	93	53	20
National defense	91	48	14
Unemployment	90	56	21
Immigration	89	32	10
Foreign affairs	88	31	8
The situation with North Korea	88	46	17
Relations with China	88	42	14
Foreign trade	87	41	9
Taxes	86	43	10
The federal budget	82	35	9
Race relations	81	30	6
Relations with Russia	80	31	5
Corruption in government	79	27	7
The situation in Syria	71	29	9
GALLUP, Feb. 12-28, 2019

Independents' overall job approval rating of Trump is 35%, and their approval of him on the issues tested ranges from 27% for his handling of government corruption to 56% for unemployment.

Trump's Approval for the Economy Is Highest Yet

Americans' assessments of the national economy have been mostly positive since Trump took office and his handling of it has been a relative strength for his public image. With the unemployment rate at 4% in January and the stock market performing better than it had been in December and January, Americans' approval of Trump's handling of the economy rose four points since early February.

Gallup has asked Americans to assess presidents' handling of the economy with some regularity beginning with Reagan's presidency. Clinton had the record-high economic approval rating of 81% in 1999. The elder Bush had the record-low of 17% in 1992. The average rating is 43%, below both of Trump's February readings. In fact, Trump's approval on the economy has not fallen below 45% throughout his presidency.

Bottom Line

The president's greatest strength in the views of Americans remains his handling of the economy, although his overall approval rating lags far behind it. Americans' ratings of his handling of the economy and unemployment outpace 12 other issues tested in the latest Gallup poll, and at 56%, his rating on the economy is the highest of his presidency, up four percentage points from earlier this month.

Trump also enjoyed increased approval on the situation with North Korea in the latest poll, but the poll concluded just as the denuclearization talks ended without a signed agreement, and it is unclear what effect that will have on public evaluations in the coming weeks.

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

View complete question responses and trends.