2017 US Politics - Trump Continues to Divide and Energise the American Public (February 1)
After an eventful first week, Donald Trump continues to divide and energise the American public. Public opinion about him remains split with about equal numbers approving and disapproving of his job. However, looking deeper we see nearly unified blocks of Republicans in support and Democrats in opposition.
Listen to The Point Being, a new podcast from the Ipsos Polling Team, where Chris Jackson and Phil Elwood discuss this week’s numbers.
Trends
With the recent events abroad, terrorism has returned as the #2 issue for Americans (top issue for 15% of the country). Republicans are significantly more worried about terrorism (20%) than Democrats (12%).
- The economy remains top of mind for most Americans, with nearly a fifth (16%) of all American reporting the economy as their biggest concern.
Overall, 52% of Americans believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction. Democrats (71%) and Independents (56%) feel a similar amount of pessimism, while Republicans are far more optimistic (30%).
Approval
President Trump’s approval ratings have him with just under one half of Americans approving of him (46%). Slightly more say that they disapprove of the job that he’s doing (47%).
On specific issues, President Trump’s approval is more positive. Over half of Americans approve of the way he is handling employment and jobs (55%) and roughly half approve of his handling of the economy (52%). On the other hand, President gets low approval marks for his handling the environment (39% approve) and the way he treats ‘people like me’ (41% approve).
These are findings from an Ipsos poll conducted for Thomson Reuters January 27-31, 2017 For the survey, a sample of 3,151 Americans, including 1,188 Democrats, 1,234 Republicans, 421 Independents ages 18+ were interviewed online.
More insights about Public Sector
