Reuters/Ipsos Core Political Survey: Presidential Approval Tracker (02/12/2020)

Washington, DC, February 12, 2020 —   This week’s Reuters/Ipsos Core Political survey finds that after President Trump’s acquittal, his approval rating among the general population remains unchanged (41%). Democratic registered voters remain highly critical of the president, with 13% of approving of how he is handling his position, while 71% say they strongly disapprove. Republican registered voters continue to view the president extremely favorably with 82% reporting they approve, and 54% say they strongly approve.  

When it comes to specific policy issues, President Trump receives the strongest approval ratings on the economy (49%) and employment (51%). Although he receives his best marks on the overall economy and jobs, he has moderate approval ratings for international trade (43%). Approximately one-third of Americans (37%) approve of how President Trump has been dealing with Congress and the effort he is making to unify the country (36%). Trump’s handling of the environment receives the lowest approval rating of any issue Reuters/Ipsos tracks, with just 33% of Americans reporting they approve. He also receives a low rating on his policies toward Russia (34%) and his handling of corruption (35%).  

Thinking more broadly about the state of the country, a majority of Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction (52%), and just 32% report that the country is on the right path. Three-quarters of Democratic registered voters say the country is off on the wrong track (77%), and just 13% say things are going well. Republican registered voters are more likely to be optimistic (61% say things are headed in the right direction).   

No single issue is seen as the most important problem facing the country by a majority of Americans. One in five Americans say that healthcare is the biggest problem (22%), followed by the economy and jobs (18%), and immigration (10%). Republican registered voters are also divided on which issue is the most important. Twenty-one percent report that immigration is the biggest problem, followed by healthcare (16%) and the economy and jobs (16%). Morality is seen as key issue by 10% of Republican registered voters. On the other hand, Democratic registered voters report that healthcare (28%) is the biggest problem facing the country, followed by the economy and jobs (18%), and the environment (12%).  

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between February 10-11, 2020 on behalf of Thomson Reuters. For this survey, a sample of 1,114 adults age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii were interviewed online in English. The sample includes 959 registered voters, 471 Democratic registered voters, 385 Republican registered voters, and 80 independent registered voters. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Americans been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. The poll also has a credibility interval ± 3.6 percentage points for registered voters, ± 5.1 percentage points for Democratic registered voters, ± 5.7 percentage points for Republican registered voters, and ± 12.5 percentage points for independent registered voters.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson
Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]

Kate Silverstein
Media Relations, US
Public Affairs
+1 718 755-8829
[email protected]

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