Trump to Be Least Popular President in Decades as Ratings Keep Plummeting

The poll shows that majorities oppose some of Trump's major campaign promises, including those that would ban non-citizen Muslims from entering the U.S. and building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. (Photo: AP)

Trump to Be Least Popular President in Decades as Ratings Keep Plummeting

Trump will enter office with 54 percent disapproval and only 40 percent approval ratings, as Americans increasingly criticize his behavior and rhetoric

President-elect Donald Trump's historically low approval ratings have dropped even more, paving the way for him to take the oath of office as the most unpopular president in at least 40 years.

A Washington Post/ABC Newssurvey released Monday finds that Trump will enter office with 54 percent disapproval and only 40 percent approval ratings, as Americans increasingly criticize his public rhetoric, his cabinet nominees, and his relationship with Russia, among other issues.

(Image: Washington Post/ABC News)

The Post reports:

Compared with other presidents, Trump's handling of the transition has been judged harshly by respondents. As with his favorable rating, 40 percent say they approve and 54 percent disapprove. In comparison, roughly 8 in 10 approved of the way [President Barack] Obama and former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush handled their transitions. And about 7 in 10 approved of the way former president George W. Bush handled his, even though it came amid the rancorous 37-day recount of ballots in Florida and a controversial Supreme Court decision that helped put him in the Oval Office.

Majorities also oppose some of his major campaign promises, such as the possibility of withdrawing from the global Paris climate agreement or the pledge to ban non-citizen Muslims from entering the country. A plurality of Americans also oppose tearing up the landmark Iran nuclear deal.

Another 60 percent oppose his proposal to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

And opposition "peaks," at 66 percent, to much of his infrastructure plan--which includes "handing out tax breaks for privately funded roads, bridges, and transportation projects that would then charge tolls for people who use them," ABC Newsreported.

The media outlets released the full joint poll after publishing some excerpts earlier in the day Monday, including the growing public demand for Trump to release his tax returns. The president-elect, who will also enter office with historic conflicts of interest, claimed in a press conference last week that Americans "don't care" about his finances.

The latest statistics align with a separate poll, released last week by Quinnipiac University, which found that the presidential "honeymoon period" ended about as quickly as it began for Trump, as the traditional occurrence of post-election public goodwill barely gave a bump to his approval ratings before they dropped again to new historic lows. And a CNN/ORC survey released Tuesday also found Trump's approval ratings to be "the lowest of any recent president."

Another major point of dissatisfaction in Monday's poll centered around Trump's personnel choices, with 48 percent of respondents saying they disapprove of most of his nominees. Trump famously promised to rid his administration of special interests and corporate power players, but has since assembled the wealthiest cabinet in modern history with deep industry ties.

Another 57 percent of respondents say they fear he will do a poor job on race relations, and more than six in 10 think he will fail at issues of special concern to women.

The poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone January 12-15, sampling 1,005 adults. The margin of error is 3.5 points.

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