WASHINGTON _ Fast action on immigration policy, accusations of voter fraud, and renewed drive to build a wall at the Mexican border and a pipeline through the Dakotas hasn't impressed voters surveyed by Quinnipiac University.
Only 36 percent approve of the job Donald Trump done so far, according to a poll released Thursday, the sixth day of his presidency.
Thirty-seven percent expect he will be a better president than Barack Obama and 50 percent said he will be worse.
"Stumbling out of the blocks, President Donald Trump is considered a divider, not a uniter, flunking on honesty, empathy and level-headedness, while his predecessor sees his legacy burnished by better and better numbers every polling cycle," said assistant poll director Tim Malloy.
Opinions were sharply divided along party lines with 81 percent of Republicans and only 4 percent of Democrats approving.
Trump is viewed more favorably by men than by women, who turned out in droves for protest marches in Washington and around the world as Trump spent his first morning in the White House on Saturday. Men approve 41 percent to 38 percent. Women disapprove 50 percent to 33 percent.
Fifty-three percent of voters surveyed said they are optimistic about the next four years compared with 40 percent who are not. And 44 percent say he will help the economy compared to 36 percent who say he will hurt it.
By a margin of 55 percent to 40 percent, respondents said Trump will do more to divide the country than unite it.
Thirty one percent expect their personal financial situations to improve under Trump's policies while 28 percent predict their personal finances to decline and 38 percent said the new president's policies will make no difference.
Eighteen percent said he will be a "great" president, 25 percent said he will be a "good" one, 16 percent said he will be "not so good" and 36 percent said he will be "bad."
The majority of those surveyed said he is strong and intelligent, but a majority also said he is not honest, he does not care about average Americans and he is not level-headed.
Eight years ago, in Quinnipiac's first poll of the Obama administration, the president had an approval rating of 59 percent. Twenty-five percent disapproved.
Quinnipiac surveyed 1,190 voters nationwide between Saturday and Wednesday. The poll has a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.
