Trump's approval and our view of the direction of the country for July 13th
Bottom Line: This is a weekly story to get a reality/temperature check regarding what's really going on with public opinion of the President and our view of the direction of the country. First here's the high point, low point and current ratings for President Trump...
Trump's lowest ratings: 37% approval and 59% disapproval: -22% (8/4/17)
Trump highest approval ratings 45% approval and 43% disapproval (1/27/17): +2%
Trump's current ratings: 44% approval and 52% disapproval: -8%
Once again, the media's depiction of the Trump administration's policies doesn't equal what we're seeing in the polling averages. President Trump's approval rating rose two points over the past week on back of the Kavanagh nomination and prior to the NATO trip which appears to have been a success for American taxpayers.
Also, as has been the case for at least ten months, the more likely someone is to vote, the higher the President's overall approval rating.
With adult only samples his rating over the past week averaged: 41%
Registered voters: 43%
Likely voters: 47%
For comparison's sake President Obama's average approval rating on this date in his second year in office was 46% - two points higher than President Trump's rating but with likely voters – 45% which is two points lower.
Looking at the direction of the country this week...
Where we stood on Inauguration Day:
Right Direction: 30%
Wrong Track: 59%
Net: -29%
Last Week:
Right Direction: 41%
Wrong Track: 53%
Net: -12%
Today:
Right Direction: 38%
Wrong Track: 54%
Net: -16%
Change: +13% under Trump & -4% over the previous update.
Now this one took a turn towards a fair amount of additional negativity this week. We're still far more optimistic than we've generally been in recent years, but both ends of the question took a hit over the past week. It's interesting given the President's improved rating this week. It's worth noting that the polling was light on this question over the past week – only two accredited polls (rather than a typical four), so perhaps that was a factor.
Until next week...