President Donald Trump’s approval rating fell to 43%, the lowest since his return to office, as Americans soured on his tariff moves and his administration’s handling of information about a military strike in Yemen, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
The three-day poll, which closed on Wednesday, showed approval of Trump’s performance as president down 2 percentage points from a poll conducted March 21-23 and 4 points below the 47% approval he had shortly after taking office on January 20.
Trump registered his highest first-term approval rating, 49%, shortly after he took office in January 2017. His lowest first-term rating was 33% in December 2017. His overall approval remains stronger than it was for most of his first term.
Democrat Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor in the White House, had his lowest rating – 35% – just ahead of last November’s presidential election.
Respondents gave Trump poor marks for his handling of the economy, which 37% approved of, with 30% approving of his work to address the high cost of living, an issue that also dogged Biden.
About half of respondents – 52% – agreed with a statement that increasing tariffs on autos and auto parts, part of the new tariff push Trump was unveiling on Wednesday, will hurt people close to them, and about the same share said that boosting tariffs would do more harm than good. About a third of Americans – largely from Trump’s Republican Party – said they disagreed with the statements that tariffs would do harm.
