President Donald Trump’s approval rating has taken another hit, this time in a Fox News poll, which found that a huge 59 percent of Americans disapprove of his performance as commander in chief.
The result is a low for the president’s second term, with just 41 percent of respondents on board with his agenda, a far cry from the 49 percent in favor and 51 percent against he recorded in Fox’s poll almost exactly a year ago.
This comes amid multiple reports that Trump’s popularity among Hispanic voters is also cratering.
Breaking it down further by giving the participants more options, Fox’s survey – conducted between March 20 and 23 – shows that the 59 percent camp is composed of 47 percent who say they strongly disapprove of Trump and just 12 percent who say they only somewhat disapprove.
The 8 percent decline comes amid the administration's ongoing war on Iran, which erupted on February 28 with airstrikes on Tehran that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but also inspired waves of retaliatory missile blasts on American and Israeli allies across the Gulf.
Perhaps of more immediate concern to U.S. citizens is the killing of 13 American servicemembers, the injuring of 200 more, and the soaring cost of fuel driven by the Iranian regime’s move to block off the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil is shipped.
The public has consistently told pollsters they are concerned about the Trump administration’s mixed messaging surrounding the conflict’s purpose and likely duration and Fox’s survey proved no different.
Sixty-two percent of registered voters said they disapproved of the president’s handling of foreign policy (38 percent were in favor), while 64 percent said they disapproved of its approach to Iran specifically (36 percent were in favor).
On support for the current conflict, 58 percent said they opposed it, with just 42 percent in favor; of those, only 20 percent were strongly in favor and 22 percent somewhat in favor.
On the first day of the strikes last month, the for-and-against camps were split exactly 50/50, according to Fox’s data.
Asked how they thought the war was going, 47 percent of voters said well, but only 19 percent said very well, while 37 percent said somewhat well, and 52 percent said not at all well.
Regarding the long-term outcome, only 33 percent said they thought the administration’s actions would make the U.S. safer, 23 percent said it would make no difference, and 44 percent feared it would only expose the country to greater danger.
Respondents were divided on a question about America’s overall place in the world, with 50 percent saying it was important for the U.S. to take the lead on global matters, and 48 percent preferring less international engagement and a greater emphasis on domestic affairs. Two percent were unsure.
Asked about their view of the White House’s motivations, only 39 percent said it was primarily concerned with U.S. national security, while 59 percent said it was swayed by other interests.
Invited to state their level of concern about domestic issues, many of which are being directly or indirectly impacted by the Iran conflict, the respondents had some sobering answers for administration officials already looking ahead to November’s midterms with chewed fingernails.
Those taking part in the survey said their top concern was inflation and high prices (a worry to a massive 86 percent of people), followed by healthcare affordability (81 percent), gas prices (80 percent), political division (80 percent), Islamist terrorism (73 percent), unemployment (73 percent), paying bills (70 percent), domestic terrorism (70 percent), gun violence (69 percent), Iran developing a nuclear weapon (66 percent), AI (66 percent), antisemitism (63 percent), and ICE deportations (62 percent).
Another poll released by Reuters last week put the president’s approval rating even lower at 36 percent, but it is his fall in the estimation of self-identifying conservatives that should really give him sleepless nights.
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