2018 US Politics - On a State-by-State Basis, Trump’s Approval is Consistent (January 10)

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

President Trump’s approval rating remains steady this week at 41% among all Americans. A large majority of Republicans (81%) report that they approve of Trump’s performance, while Democrats (13%) and Independents (32%) are less generous with their evaluations.

On a state-by-state basis, Trump’s approval is consistent. His approval is the lowest in Washington D.C., where just 17% of the population approves of the job he is doing as president. Trump enjoys the highest approval ratings in West Virginia, where 54% approve of his job.

Americans continue to view healthcare (17%) as the most important problem facing the country, followed by terrorism (13%) and the economy generally (12%). Perceptions of major problems are based on party lines, with one-fifth of Democrats (22%) viewing healthcare as the most important problem, compared to 14% of Republicans. Republicans (19%) view terrorism as the most important issue, compared to just 9% of Democrats. Independents view the economy as the most important issue (15%).

With increased pressure from the Mueller investigation and Jeff Sessions’ recent promise to crack down on states’ legalization of marijuana, many Americans think he will be the next to leave the Trump Administration (22%), up 8-points from last week, according to Ipsos’ Wh’Exit Poll. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, is a distant second, with just 14% of Americans believing he will be the next to be ousted, down 1-point from last week.

With an eye on the November 2018 mid-terms election, a plurality of Americans (40%) report that they would vote for a Democratic candidate if the election were held today. Fewer than a third of Americans (31%) would vote for a Republican. Independents are split on their decision, with 14% reporting they would vote for a Democrat, 15% reporting they would vote for a Republican, and 20% reporting that they would vote for a candidate from another party.

These are findings from an Ipsos poll conducted for Thomson Reuters January 5-January 9, 2018. For the survey, a sample of 1,616 Americans, ages 18+ were interviewed online.