Reuters/Ipsos Data: Core Political (04/05/17)

Listen to The Point Being, a podcast from the Ipsos Polling Team, where Chris Jackson and Erin Morris discuss this week’s numbers.

Washington, DC — As we enter the final quarter of President Trump’s first 100 days, our polls show the country is no more unified or optimistic than when he took office. Over half of Americans (52%) believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, with little change since last week and only a 7-point drop from the first week of Trump’s administration (59%). Democrats continue to be predominantly pessimistic about the state of the country, with 72% believing the country is on the wrong track. Republicans are slightly more split, with a majority more confident, believing America is heading in the right direction (55%). Most significantly, Independents are more confident in the country this week (27%) than they were when Trump took office (13%).

Following the failure of the American Healthcare Act early last week, Americans continue to prioritize healthcare as a main problem, as well as the economy and terrorism. Down only one percentage point, 15% of Americans believe healthcare is the most important problem facing the US. Notably, Republican prioritization of terrorism has fallen, down 4 percentage points from last week (16%).

President Trump’s job approval is stagnant, now at 46% approval and 50% disapproval, with no significant change from last week. Despite a dramatic week focused on healthcare, Trump’s approval attributes are virtually unchanged. Even with the defeat of AHCA, his approval on healthcare remains at 42%, up from last week’s 41% approval. With his administration’s new focus on US tax policy, we may see improved numbers on his handling of taxation in the future.

Also dominating the news cycle, Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court hearing has not significantly changed his familiarity or favorability numbers. Among the fewer Americans that are aware of Gorsuch, opinion is divided between 49% who are favorable and 51% who are unfavorable.

Topline results are available for download.

These are findings from an Ipsos poll conducted for Thomson Reuters March 31 - April 4, 2017 For the survey, a sample of 2,149 Americans, including 1,015 Democrats, 759 Republicans, 257 Independents ages 18+ were interviewed online. The precision of the Reuters/Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points for all adults, 3.5 percentage points for Democrats, 4.1 percentage points for Republicans, 7.0 percentage points for Independents. For more information about credibility intervals, please see the appendix.

The data were weighted to the U.S. current population data by gender, age, education, and ethnicity. Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online polls. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error and measurement error. Figures marked by an asterisk (*) indicate a percentage value of greater than zero but less than one half of one per cent. Where figures do not sum to 100, this is due to the effects of rounding. To see more information on this and other Reuters/Ipsos polls, please visit http://polling.reuters.com/.

For more information on this news release please contact:

Clifford Young,
President, US Public Affairs,
Ipsos Public Affairs,
202.420.2016
[email protected]

Julia Clark,
Senior Vice President,
Ipsos Public Affairs,
312.526.4919
[email protected]

Chris Jackson,
Vice President,
Ipsos Public Affairs,
202.420.2011
[email protected]

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