By Enyichukwu Enemanna
US President Donald Trump’s early second term is earning an approval rating among the lowest in history, a survey has indicated.
A poll released on Thursday by Gallup shows that 47 percent of respondents support Trump’s term so far, slightly above the 45 per cent he earned by this time during his first term.
It is a rating that places him below all other elected presidents since 1953.
He is the only elected American leader with an approval rating below 50 percent, the survey found.
On the other hand, his disapproval rating stands at 48 per cent, three percentage points higher than what he earned in 2017, marking a new high in disapproval ratings at the beginning of a president’s term.
Former President Joe Biden received a 57 percent approval rating, the same as former President George W. Bush.
The presidents who received the next lowest approval ratings after Trump were former Presidents Ronald Wilson and George H.W. Bush.
The president who received the highest approval rating when entering office was former President John F. Kennedy.
Gallup noted that Trump’s current approval rating is “not statistically different” from past readings.
“However, initial evaluations of Trump differ in that Americans are much more likely to disapprove of his performance rather than have no opinion, as was the case for the elder Bush and Reagan,” the survey said.
Gallup noted that the 47 percent Trump scored is better than his average rating during his first term when he earned a 41 percent approval from Americans, while 4 percent came from non-Americans.
He was the only president not to have received a job approval rating of 50 percent or above during his time in office.
The survey was conducted between 21-27 January among 1,001 adults and has a margin of error of four percentage points, Gallup said.
Trump, sworn in on 20 January, has embarked on a number of policy reforms considered highly unpopular by Americans.
Days after his inauguration, he ordered the release of the Capitol Hill rioters jailed in 2021 and pardoned those already freed. They had protested against his election loss to Biden in 2020.
He has also announced the temporary discontinuation of foreign aid, including assistance that affects millions of people worldwide.
Additionally, he withdrew his country’s membership from the UN body, the World Health Organization (WHO), threatening the funding and operations of the organisation.
