Story Highlights
- Trump's current approval remains at the upper range of his ratings
- Approval among Republicans at 92%; 42% for independents, 8% for Democrats
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After back-to-back personal best 49% job approval ratings, President Donald Trump's latest 47% job score remains in the upper range of his ratings to date.
In the new Gallup poll, conducted Feb. 17-28, 51% of Americans disapprove of the job Trump is doing and 2% have no opinion. The president's approval rating has been elevated since just before the U.S. Senate voted to keep him in office after he was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives.
During the poll's field period, fears about the spread of the coronavirus led to the Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst week since the financial crisis of 2008. Before that, Trump pardoned seven people, including Michael Milken, who pleaded guilty to securities and tax violations in the 1990s, and commuted the prison sentence of four others, most famous among them former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
None of these news events seems to have affected the president's current job approval rating appreciably. The two-percentage-point drop from earlier this month is not a statistically meaningful change.
Political Polarization in Approval Rating Remains Near Record Level
The political polarization that has gripped the country shows no signs of abating, as Republicans approve of the president with near unanimity and Democratic approval is exceedingly low. The 92% approval among Republicans and 42% among independents are close to his highest ratings for those groups. Meanwhile, his approval rating among Democrats, currently 8%, hasn't been above 13% since he took office in February 2017.
The current 84-point gap in approval between Republicans and Democrats is just a few points shy of the record polarization Gallup found in late January and early February.
Since he took office, Trump's job approval ratings have been the most polarized for a president to date. The polarization continues to grow in this, the fourth year of his presidency. Historically, presidents' job approval ratings have shown the highest degree of polarization during their fourth year, as they seek re-election to a second term.
Bottom Line
Republicans' nearly unanimous approval of Trump and independents' higher approval continue to hold his job rating near his personal best level. The increases among these groups, which came on the heels of his impeachment and acquittal -- coupled with the nation's continued strong economy -- have likely helped keep Trump's job approval rating close to his highest on record. Time will tell whether his elevated post-impeachment rating will continue or if it will return to previous levels, as it did for Bill Clinton in the months after his impeachment.
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Learn more about public opinion metrics that matter for the 2020 presidential election at Gallup's 2020 Presidential Election Center.
Explore President Trump's approval ratings and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.
Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.
Editor's note: On March 4, 2020, this article was updated to clarify the crimes Michael Milken pleaded guilty to.
