2017 US Politics - Trump and Congress Continue to Suffer in Domestically Focused Approval Ratings (May 31)

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

In the aftermath of multiple international terrorist attacks, terrorism is now top of mind for many Americans. Up four percentage points from last week, 16% of Americans believe terrorism and terrorist attacks are the most important problem facing the US. While healthcare remains a top priority for 18% of Americans, 20% of Republicans count terrorism as their priority.

Following a foreign policy trip focused on uniting through religious collaboration, President Trump is enjoying a bump in approval of his dealing with ISIS (49%) and foreign policy (42%). His overall job approval also rose to 40%, three percentage points higher than last week. Party identification continues to define approval, with only 11% of Democrats approving of President Trump versus 79% of Republicans approving. Independents are more volatile with their support, now at 35% approval, significantly higher than 29% approval last week. 

However, President Trump and Congress continue to suffer in domestically focused approval ratings. Trump has maintained higher approval ratings on the US economy (47%) and employment and jobs (49%), but struggles on taxation (39%), the environment (36%), and dealing with Congress (39%). Although Republican senators are reworking his healthcare plan, only 38% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of healthcare reform. Unsurprisingly, only 30% of Americans support the new American Health Care Act. Notably, just over half of Republicans support the bill (54%), and even fewer Democrats (16%) and Independents (18%) support it. As far as approval, Congress doesn’t fare much better. In a split sample experiment, 48% approve of the way their Congressperson is handling their job as Representative while only 22% approve of the way Congress as a whole is handling its job.

These are findings from an Ipsos poll conducted for Thomson Reuters May 26-30, 2017 For the survey, a sample of 2,081 Americans, ages 18+ were interviewed online.