Just 45 per cent of likely U.S. voters approve of President Donald Trump’s job performance, an end-of-the-year poll has showed.
The figures, presented by the Rasmussen Reports, show that 53 per cent disapprove or strongly disapprove of his performance, as the White House is readying itself to take stock of Trump’s first year as President.
This can be compared to his predecessor Barack Obama, who had 68 per cent approving of his job performance at the end of his first year in office.
Real news: Just 45 per cent of U.S. voters approve of President Trump’s job performance at the end of his first year, a recent poll shows
A small joy for the president is that 29 per cent of those polled said they ‘strongly approve’ of his work done as president, however this is dwarfed by the 44 per cent who ‘strongly disapprove’.
According to the Rasmussen reports’ data collected throughout Trump’s first year in office, his support was strongest in the beginning of his presidency with a peak of 59 per cent approval on January 26.
However, by March, numbers dipped below 50 per cent, and come early August they had plummeted to just 38 per cent.
March saw President Trump accuse former President Obama of wiretapping him during the election campaign – a claim found to be baseless.
August was President Trump’s low point, with his failure to condemn white supremacists and Nazis in Charlottesville – the unforgettable ‘bad people on both sides’ speech – and his late July announcement that he was banning transgender men and women from serving in the military (which has since been blocked).
Sad! Some 44 per cent strongly disapprove of Trump’s job performance and a total of 53 per cent disapprove to some extent
August also saw him pardon Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio who had been convicted of repeatedly violating court orders to stop racial profiling.
His predecessor enjoyed much higher approval ratings, even towards the end of his second term, according to the same data.
Barack Obama’s December 2008 figures – ending his first year in office – showed a 68 per cent approval.
Even at the end of his final year as President, in December 2016, 55 per cent of the US population approved of his job performance.
However, the Rasmussen Reports’ figures are still a lot more positive than the CNN presidential approval rating poll, which found that just 35 per cent thinks Trump is doing a good job.
This is the lowest ever of a modern-day president at the end of his first year in office.
Even the ‘runner-up’, Ronald Reagan, had a 49 per cent approval in 1981.
This can be compared to George W Bush whose end-of-year approval was at 86 per cent in 2001 and Nixon in 1969 at 59 per cent.
Big hands, big figures: Trump’s approval rating can be compared to his Barack Obama, who had a 68 per cent approval rating at the end of his first year in office
But President Trump is seemingly unphased by his low approval rating and just yesterday he boasted that his wins against ISIS are bigger than President Obama’s.
Citing Department of Defense statistics and quoting the Washington Examiner’s Jamie McIntyre, Trump said as of last week there are just 1,000 ISIS fighters left occupying a mere 1,900 square miles.
That’s down from 35,000 ISIS fighters occupying 17,500 square miles that existed when President Trump was sworn in last January.
However, new data from from Mexico ‘s Interior Ministry showed that President Trump sent 26 per cent fewer Mexicans back home this year compared to Obama, despite his vows to crackdown on illegal immigration.