President Donald Trump has failed to score points with voters on several major topics, according to a new poll published by NBC News on Sunday.
Newsweek reached out to the White House by email on Sunday evening for comment.
Why It Matters
Trump entered the White House on a wave of enthusiasm among Republicans, with lawmakers insisting the president has a mandate from voters to pursue his agenda after the party won the White House and majorities in both houses of Congress.
That agenda included an aggressive “chainsaw” approach to cutting back on the scope and spending in the federal government, with thousands of probationary workers fired while thousands of others were given contract buyouts.
Trump has also flipflopped on tariffs, promising extreme hikes on certain goods from Europe, China, Canada and Mexico, but then rolling them back after saying he received concessions or had changed his approach – such threatening Canada with 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum before rolling back to 25 percent.
The erratic approach to tariffs, among other policies, have precipitated a steep sell-off in the stock market, which saw the Dow Jones enter a “correction,” a term among economists for when the market loses 10 percent of value, in just one month. The market regained some value by the end of last week.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
What To Know
The new NBC poll, published on March 16, was conducted between March 7 and 11 and surveyed 1000 registered voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.
Among those voters, the poll found that Trump has a 51 percent disapproval rating compared to 47 approval, which equals his highest-ever approval rating. His ratings among Republicans self-identifying as MAGA have improved, and the public has increasingly approved of the president’s handling of border security and immigration.
Additionally, more registered voters see the country heading in the right direction than at any point since early 2004, but NBC noted that the majority still sees the country on the wrong track: Trump has more disapproval than approval on foreign policy (53 to 45), the economy (54 to 44), and inflation (55 to 42).
The country remains split on issues such as DEI (39 percent positive opinion compared to 43 percent negative and 14 percent neutral) and Ukraine (41 percent positive opinion compared to 28 percent negative and 27 percent neutral).
Surprisingly, Americans largely remained positive about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky following his high-profile bust-up with Trump in the Oval Office, with 41 percent having a positive view of him compared to 28 percent negative and 27 percent neutral – largely unchanged from when polling was conducted in November 2023.
Additionally, those polled largely had a positive view of federal government employees at 49 percent compared to 21 percent negative and 29 percent neutral.
What People Are Saying
Senatro Eric Schmitt of Missouri, a Republican, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “President Trump’s approval rating: All-time highs. The Democratic Party‘s approval rating: All-time lows. Oh, and Americans are more optimistic about the direction of the country than at any point since 2004. Any questions?”
