President Donald Trump has gotten no honeymoon in his first 100 days in office, as The Washington Post/ABC News poll shows his approval ratings in steady decline over matters including a fledgling trade war, volatile markets, and legal wranglings over his agenda.
The data gives Trump the worst approval ratings of any past president in his first 100 days, whether it is their first or second term.
Just 39% of adults in the U.S. approve of the way Trump is handling his job. There are 55% who disapprove, including 44% strongly, according to the poll.
That net 16-point disapproval has doubled from a 8-point net disapproval just two months ago.
Trump had the approval of 48% of registered voters, albeit still 3-point net negative with 51 disapproving in February's edition of the poll. The net-negative decline among registered voters swung 10 points to the downside with a 13-point net negative (42% approve, 55% disapprove).
As a one-term president, Trump faces Democrat efforts to merely run out the clock on his agenda, and it appears to be working in the courts and the court of public opinion, the poll finds.
The poll finds that a majority say Trump exceeded his authority, and the economy is worse off now. About half say U.S. leadership in the world is now weaker.
All those issues were campaign messaging points for Trump, but they are now underwater for him.
Still, as bad is it seems for Trump, adults in the U.S. think Democrats are worse. Trump is trusted over congressional Democrats by 7 points (37% to 30%) in dealing with the country's major problems. Also, Democrats are seen as somewhat more out of touch "with the concerns of most people" than either Trump or the Republican Party.
The Republican base is holding up the only positive marks Trump gets. Democrats are nearly unilateral in their disapproval (nearly 90%) of Trump, while more than 80% of Republicans approve.
Independents are heavily in the red for Trump, as 58% disapprove to just 33% approving. Even GOP-leaning independents' approval of Trump has fallen 13 points from 76% to 63% since February.
On the issues of obstruction and opposition, according to the Post:
- More than 6 in 10 disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy.
- 53% disapprove of handling of immigration.
- Majority says Trump is "going too far" with his executive authority.
- More than 3 in 4 oppose reductions in federal funding for medical research.
- 7 in 10 oppose the Trump administration's influence in the operation of private universities, although he is pulling government-funding levers to get private institutions to actually follow federal laws, his officials argue.
- 2 in 3 Americans say they take Harvard's side in their Trump's defunding action.
- 2 in 3 oppose his effort to end birthright citizenship.
- More than 6 in 10 oppose shutting down the Education Department, cutting back on environmental regulations on oil and gas drilling, and freezing foreign aid that provides food and health services to people in poor countries.
- About 6 in 10 oppose deporting international students who have criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East, which the administration notes is spreading antisemitic propaganda through support for Hamas terrorists.
On the economy, which was Trump's main selling point in his campaign:
- 39% approve, 61% disapprove of his handling – a 22-point net negative that dwarfs his 8-point net negative just two months ago before the start of his massive tariffs program to rebalance global trade.
- Still, his approval remains 2 points better than former President Joe Biden's.
- More than 7 in 10 Americans say the economy today is either "not so good" or "poor."
- A majority 53% say the economy has grown worse since Trump took office in January.
- More than 7 in 10 say Trump's policies will result in an economic recession in the short term, including 51% of Republicans.
- Just 3 in 10 say Trump's policies will put the U.S. on a stronger economic foundation.
The Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by Ipsos from April 18-22 among 2,464 U.S. adults. The overall results have a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.