On February 27th the NBC/WSJ survey found that 46% approve of the job that Trump is doing as president. Among those expressing approval are 88% of Republicans, 60% of rural residents, 54% of men and 54% of whites overall.
52% disapprove of the job that he is doing including 88% of African Americans, 64% of Latinos, 61% of women, 57% of those age 18-34 and 51% of independents. [NBC/WSJ 2/27/19]
On February 26, 2019, Economist/YouGov found that 40% of Americans approved of Trump’s job performance and 51% disapproved. Among those approving of the president’s performance are 9% of liberals, 34% of moderates and 80% of conservatives; 44% of men and 36% of women. 49% of men and 53% of women disapprove.
On February 10, 2019, Gallup found (among all adults) that 44% of Americans approve of President Trump’s job performance and 52% disapprove.
(Gallup no longer provides a daily or weekly approval rating of the president. Gallup now assess presidential job approval on a monthly basis.)
I now include a periodic polling summary–Registered and Likely Voters–by FiveThirtyEight.
| Gallup (all adults) | FiveThirtyEight (Registered / Likely voters) | |||
| Date | Approval | Disapproval | Approval | Disapproval |
| 2/10/19 | 44% | 52% | 40.2% | 55.1% |
| 1/27/19 | 37% | 59% | 40.4% | 55.6% |
| 1/10/19 | 37% | 59% | 41.8% | 53.9% |
| 12/22/18 | 39% | 55% | 42.2% | 52.8% |
| 12/2/18 | 40% | 56% | 42.5% | 52.7% |
| 11/4/18 | 40% | 54% | 42.2% | 52.6% |
| 10/14/18 | 44% | 51% | 42.1% | 52.4% |
| 9/30/18 | 42% | 53% | 41.5% | 52.7% |
| 9/2/18 | 41% | 53% | 40.3% | 54.5% |
| 7/29/18 | 40% | 55% | 41.2% | 53.2% |
| 7/1/18 | 42% | 53% | 41.8% | 52.3% |
| 1/14/18 | 38% | 57% | — | — |
The following are some additional looks at the President’s job performance. The numbers below are of registered voters unless followed by an “A” which means “all voters” or “L” which means “likely voters”.
| Date | NBC / WSJ | WP / ABC | CNN | CBS | FOX |
| FEB ’19 | 46/52A | xx | 42/54 | xx | 46/52 |
| JAN ’19 | 43/54A | 38/58 | 37/57A | 36/59A | 43/54 |
| DEC ’18 | 43/54A | xx | 39/52 | xx | 46/52 |
| JAN ’18 | 39/57A | 38/58 | 43/53 | 37/58cbsA | 45/53 |
| DEC ’17 | 41/56 | xxx | 36/59cnn | 36/57 cbsA | xxx |
| JAN ’17 | xxx | xxx | 44/53 | 40/48 cbs | xxx |
The following are job approval numbers from Gallup for ten of the last twelve presidents, roughly 26 months into their first term.
| GHW Bush | 87% (3/91) |
| Eisenhower | 71% (3/53) |
| Kennedy | 67% (3/63) |
| GW Bush | 57% (3/03) |
| Nixon | 50% (3/71) |
| Obama | 47% (3/11) |
| Clinton | 46% (3/95) |
| Trump | 44% (3/19) |
| Reagan | 41% (3/83) |
| Carter | 39% (3/79) |
On economic policy, Trump’s approval ratings have remained consistently positive since April.
| Approve | Disapprove | ||
| 2/19/19 | 51% | 44% | Econ/YouGov (RV) |
| 2/2/19 | 49% | 45% | CNN (RV) |
| 1/1/19 | 47% | 46% | Econ/YouGov (RV) |
| 12/6/18 | 48% | 42% | CNBC (A) |
| 11/18/18 | 52% | 41% | CBS News (A) |
| 10/9/18 | 51% | 42% | Econ/YouGov (RV) |
| 9/9/18 | 51% | 53% | CNN |
| 8/21/18 | 49% | 44% | Fox News |
| 7/18/18 | 50% | 34% | NBC/WSJ |
| 1/16/18 | 46% | 49% | CBS News |
On foreign policy, Trump’s approval ratings remain in negative territory.
| Approve | Disapprove | ||
| 2/19/19 | 44% | 50% | Econ/YouGov (RV) |
| 1/1/19 | 42% | 51% | Econ/YouGov (RV) |
| 12/11/19 | 42% | 51% | Econ/YouGov (RV) |
| 11/19/18 | 42% | 53% | Quinnipiac (RV) |
| 10/9/18 | 45% | 48% | Econ/YouGov (RV) |
| 9/9/18 | 38% | 56% | CNN |
| 8/21/18 | 37% | 55% | Fox News |
| 7/18/18 | 38% | 45% | NBC/WSJ |
| 1/16/18 | 36% | 60% | Quinnipiac |
During 2018, 17 states gave Trump job approval ratings of 50% or higher while 16 states gave him approval ratings below 40%.
The 17 states which gave Trump approval ratings of 50% or higher account for a combined total of 102 electoral votes while the states in which Trump had approval ratings below 40% account for 201 electoral votes. [Gallup 2/22/19]
52% have positive feelings toward the president while 50% have negative feelings toward him. Positive feelings toward him are just a point short of the highest they have been. While the low point in feelings toward him was 35% in April of last year. [NBC/WSJ 2/27/10]
As of March 4th, the Washington Post fact checker team has documented 9,014 false or misleading claims by the president since he took office.
When faced with the statement “Donald Trump has been honest and truthful when it comes to the investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election”, 58% of respondents disagree while 37% agree. [NBC/WSJ 2/27/19]
President Trump is intent on withdrawing the United States from a variety of places around the world. 52% of Americans seem to agree that this country should be less actively involved while 45% believe the country should be more actively involved. [NBC/WSJ 2/27/19
Because the U.S. Senate remains in Republican hands and the filibuster is no more, the President can continue unchecked his goal of remaking the federal judiciary.
| Total | Supreme Ct | Appeals Ct | District Ct | |
| Trump – thru 3/3/19 | 86 | 2 | 31 | 53 |
| Obama – 8 years | 329 | 2 | 55 | 268 |
| GW Bush – 8 years | 327 | 2 | 62 | 261 |
| Clinton – 8 years | 378 | 2 | 66 | 305 |
| GHW Bush – 4 years | 193 | 2 | 42 | 148 |
| Reagan | 383 | 3 | 83 | 290 |
| Carter | 262 | 0 | 56 | 203 |
There are currently a number of nominations awaiting Senate action: 11 seats on the Courts of Appeals, 47 seats on the District Courts and 2 seats on the Courts of International Trade.
There are currently 11 vacancies on the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 125 vacancies on the U.S. District Courts and 3 vacancies on the U.S. Court of International Trade. [USCourts/Wikipedia]