President Trump’s average job-approval score in the Gallup poll inched up to 41.9 percent in his sixth quarter in office — a personal best but still below most modern presidents at the same time in their first term.
Mr. Trump’s average approval rating from April 20 through July 19 was up slightly from his previous high mark of 41.3 percent in the first quarter, according to Gallup.
His average rose as he weathered stinging criticism of his kid-glove treatment of Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit last week in Helsinki, Finland.
The average was bolstered by 88 percent approval among Republicans. The average approval among independents was 36 percent and for Democrats, it was 9 percent.
All party group’s approval edged up in the poll: Republicans were up 3 points, independents by 2 points and Democrats by 1 point.
Like Mr. Trump, several other recent presidents had averages below majority approval at a similar point in their presidencies: Ronald Reagan (44.2 percent), Bill Clinton (46.1 percent) and Barack Obama (47.3 percent).
Those three presidents were serving during challenging economic times, noted Gallup.
“Trump’s job approval has not followed the normal trajectory for presidential approval, and that is one reason for the rare increase in approval at this stage of his presidency,” said the pollsters. “Whereas most prior presidents started with high approval ratings at the beginning of their terms and saw those decline through the second year in office, Trump’s started with low approval ratings, but they have been better more recently, likely because of consistent positive economic news.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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