Americans Continue to Rate Trump Highest on Economy
by Justin McCarthy
Story Highlights
46% say Trump is doing a good job of making the country prosperous
35% say he is doing a good job on energy; 31% on protecting environment
Trump's ratings on issues fall behind those of Bush and Obama
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans are about as likely to say President Donald
Trump is doing a good job as they are to believe he is doing a poor job
of making the U.S. prosperous, 46% vs. 47%. However, Trump performs better
on this measure than on two other issues on which he was rated in Gallup's
annual Environment poll: energy and the environment.
Americans' Views of Presidents' Handling of Issues
First year in office
Second year in office
Difference
% Good job
% Good job
(pct. pts.)
ENVIRONMENT
Donald Trump
36
31
-5
Barack Obama
79
52
-27
George W. Bush
51
50
-1
ENERGY
Donald Trump
46
35
-11
Barack Obama
72
43
-29
George W. Bush
58
46
-12
MAKING AMERICA PROSPEROUS^
Donald Trump
54
46
-8
Barack Obama
61
38
-23
George W. Bush
66
63
-3
^ Wording for Bush: Keeping America prosperous; data reflect March polling
for each president
Gallup
The 31% saying Trump is doing a good job of "protecting the nation's
environment" and the 35% saying the same for "improving the
nation's energy policy" remain low and well behind his predecessors'
second-year ratings. Trump's current rating on the economy also trails
George W. Bush's second-year rating but exceeds Barack Obama's.
Gallup's 2018 Environment poll was conducted March 1-8 and found that
Trump's ratings on all three issues are slightly lower than at the
same time in 2017. At that point, the beginning of his term, Gallup asked
Americans to predict how he would perform on each issue as president.
That Trump's highest marks so far came just weeks after his inauguration
repeats the pattern that both of his immediate predecessors experienced
-- Obama's and Bush's highest ratings on all three issues were
in their first year in office and were based on Americans' expectations
of their presidencies.
Obama's ratings on the issues each declined by 23 to 29 percentage
points between 2009 and 2010. Bush's declines were less pronounced
-- between one and 12 points -- likely reflecting the surge in support
for him that occurred six months earlier, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Like Trump, Bush's best second-year rating of the three issues was
on the economy, while Obama's highest rating was for protecting the
environment.
Most Republicans Say Trump Doing a Good Job of Making America Prosperous
While campaigning, Trump promised big economic gains, and the nation saw
improvements across a number of economic measures during his first year
in office. Now, more than four in five Republicans and Republican-leaning
independents say Trump is doing a good job of making America prosperous.
Sixty-nine percent give Trump positive reviews for improving energy policy
-- an issue on which his administration has overturned many Obama-era
regulations. A smaller majority of Republicans say he is doing a good
job of protecting the environment.
Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are far less likely to say
the president is doing a good job on any of the issues. Like Republicans,
Democrats' highest marks for Trump are on making the country prosperous;
about one in five say he is doing a good job. Smaller minorities say Trump
is doing a good job on energy and the environment. Democrats' negative
perspective of Trump on these issues comes after a year in which the White
House took many actions that angered environmental activists, including
a recent order to allow offshore drilling in nearly all U.S. coastal waters.
Americans' Views of Donald Trump's Handling of Issues, by Party Group
Do you think Donald Trump is doing a good job or a poor job in handling
each of the following issues as president?
Republicans/Republican leaners
Democrats/Democratic leaners
% Good job
% Good job
Making America prosperous
84
19
Improving the nation's energy policy
69
12
Protecting the nation's environment
62
8
Gallup, March 1-8, 2018
Bottom Line
Americans' reviews of the president's performance on making the
country prosperous come as the U.S. stock market experiences significant
volatility and has struggled to recover after dropping by 10% at the beginning
of February. The percentage of Americans who say he is doing a good job
might have been higher if it had been measured when the markets were at
their peak earlier in 2018.
Additionally, Trump's tax cuts are still new, and although they currently
remain unpopular,
approval for the tax cuts has improved since Trump signed the bill into law. If the increases in Americans'
paychecks lead to greater personal financial benefit over time, Americans
could become more positive about his ability to help the country prosper.
While majorities of Republicans continue to have favorable views of the
president's handling of energy policy and the environment, Democrats
give him very low ratings. This is unlikely to change soon, as Trump's
administration continues to work at peeling away many Obama-era policies
in these areas.
Survey Methods
Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted
March 1-8, 2018, with a random sample of 1,041 adults, aged 18 and older,
living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results
based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error
is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported
margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.
Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 70% cellphone
respondents and 30% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas
by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are
selected using random-digit-dial methods.