On May 1st the NBC/WSJ survey found that 46% approve of the job that Trump is doing as president. 53% disapprove of the job that he is doing. [NBC/WSJ 5/1/19]
On May 14, 2019, Economist/YouGov found that 39% of Americans approved of Trump’s job performance and 50% disapproved.
| Approve | Disapprove | |
| Men | 43% | 46% |
| Women | 35% | 56% |
| 18-29 years | 27% | 58% |
| 65+ | 51% | 46% |
(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. Note that year over year there has been little or no change in Trump’s approval although there have been movements up to 7% points in Gallup.
| Gallup (all adults) | FiveThirtyEight (Registered / Likely voters) | |||
| Date | Approval | Dis-approval | Approval | Dis-approval |
| 5/12/19 | 42% | 52% | 42.4% | 52.4% |
| 4/9/19 | 45% | 51% | 42% | 52.7% |
| 3/10/19 | 39% | 57% | 41.8% | 53.4% |
| 2/10/19 | 44% | 52% | 40.2% | 55.1% |
| 1/27/19 | 37% | 59% | 40.4% | 55.6% |
| 12/22/18 | 39% | 55% | 42.2% | 52.8% |
| 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 |
| MAY ’19 | 46/51 | xx | xx | xx | 46/53 |
| APR ’19 | xx | 42/54 | 44/53 | xx | 45/51 |
| MAR ’19 | 43/53A | xx | 43/51 | xx | 46/51 |
| 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 |
39% of Americans have positive feelings toward President Trump while 49% have negative feelings toward him. The high point of this measurement was in February 2017 when 43% had positive feelings toward the President and the low point was in April 2018 when only 35% had positive feelings toward him. [NBC/WSJ 5/1/19]
The following are job approval numbers from Gallup for ten of the last twelve presidents, roughly 28 months into their first term.
| GHW Bush | 77% (5/91) |
| Eisenhower | 68% (5/55) |
| GW Bush | 66% (5/03) |
| Kennedy | 64% (5/63) |
| Clinton | 51% (5/95) |
| Nixon | 50% (5/71) |
| Obama | 49% (5/11) |
| Trump | 42% (5/19) |
| Reagan | 43% (5/83) |
| Carter | 37% (5/79) |
On economic policy, Trump’s approval ratings have remained consistently positive since April.
| Approve | Disapprove | ||
| 5/14/19 | 48% | 46% | Fox News (RV) |
| 4/16/19 | 47% | 46% | Reuters/Ipsos (A) |
| 3/26/19 | 50% | 45% | Econ/YouGov (RV) |
| 3/4/19 | 49% | 45% | Quinnipiac (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 | ||
| 5/14/19 | 43% | 49% | Econ/YouGov (RV) |
| 4/16/19 | 39% | 52% | Reuters (A) |
| 3/26/19 | 44% | 50% | Econ/YouGov (RV) |
| 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% | NBC/WSJ |
Donald Trump embraced Hungary’s prime minister at today’s White House meeting. Viktor Orban has flirted with authoritarianism and undermined democratic institutions in the country as part of his self-proclaimed goal of creating an “illiberal democratic” state. The praise from the president (Trump) isn’t all that surprising. Trump’s own hand-picked ambassador in Hungary told Franklin Foer that “knowing the president for a good 25 to 30 years … he would love to have the situation that Viktor Orban has.” [Atlantic 5/13/19]
60% of Americans do not think that Donald Trump has been honest and truthful when it comes to the investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election and related matters. 37% think he has been honest and truthful.
29% think that the Mueller report clears Trump of any wrongdoing. 42% say it does not clear him. [NBC/WSJ 5/1/19]
Judges Nominated and Confirmed to Date
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 5/21/19 | 108 | 2 | 41 | 65 |
| 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 several nominations awaiting Senate action: 2 seats on the Courts of Appeals, 63 seats on the District Courts and 2 seats on the Courts of International Trade.
There are currently 4 vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals, 122 vacancies on the U.S. District Courts and 4 vacancies on the U.S. Court of International Trade. [USCourts/Wikipedia]
Disassembling
Trump has issued an executive order seeking to speed up oil and gas pipeline projects by making it harder for states to intervene. [WP 4/10/19]
As many as 44.7 million Americans have student loan debt. The total amount of student loan debt is $1.47 trillion as of the end of 2018. Most Americans with student loan debt are young. But adults 60 and older are the fastest growing cohort among student loan borrowers. The number of Americans over the age of 60 with student loan debt has more than doubled in the last decade. [NBC News 4/24/19]
The Trump administration has done everything possible to undercut the vitality and capability of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Recently the Department of Education is helping to undercut the capacity of the CFPB to police the student loan industry. The problem is that the student loan servicers are refusing to share information that the CFPB says it needs to perform proper oversight. The loan servicers are not providing the information based on guidance from the Department of Education. [NPR 5/16/19]
This month, the administration signaled it would like to change how the government adjusts its official poverty threshold for inflation every year, which could result in millions fewer Americans qualifying for a wide range of benefits over time. [HuffPost 5/13/19]
On the eve of the recent discussion with China about trade, President Trump falsely claimed that the U.S. collects “over 100 billion a year in tariffs.” In fact, the U.S. collected $41 billion in fiscal year 2018 and has collected $34.7 billion through the first six months of this fiscal year. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that the U.S. will collect $74 billion in 2019. [Fact Check 5/8/19]
The administration is moving ahead with a plan to restrict visitor visas for nationals of countries with high overstay rates, including potentially barring their entry entirely. Cabinet officials have been ordered to draw up recommendations for nationals of countries that have an overstay rate of 10% or more. [WSJ 4/23/19]
In Donald Trump’s America, state and federally funded adoption agencies and other child welfare agencies (CWAs) can openly violate anti-discrimination laws and openly flout the “best interests of the child” standard that governs American family law and can legally refuse to place children with anyone they religiously disapprove of including gays, Catholics or Jews. [The Daily Beast 4/9/19]
DHS issued a final rule protecting individuals and entities that want to opt out of care due to their religious beliefs. It explicitly mentions abortions, sterilization, assisted suicide, and advance directives as issues and will allow them to refrain from having to provide, participate in, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for, such services. [WP 5/2/19]