100 days: Sharp partisan divides mark Trump presidency - CBS News poll
By Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus, Kabir Khanna and Anthony Salvanto
For most, it's still too soon to judge
While most feel 100 days is not enough time to judge the Trump administration, 41 percent approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as he nears that hundred-day mark. It's a rating that's historically low but has been fairly steady since he took office, underpinned by support that comes heavily from Republicans.
Ratings of Donald Trump are far more partisan than ratings of his immediate predecessors were at this point in their presidencies: both Presidents Obama and Bush enjoyed higher ratings from the opposing political party at the 100-day mark. Mr. Trump also gets lower ratings then they did among independents.
Most Americans say 100 days is not enough time to judge President Trump's administration. And while most independents don't approve of his job performance now, 69 percent also say they need more time to evaluate it. Sixty-two percent Democrats, by contrast, say they've seen enough to make up their minds.
Based on what they have seen so far, Americans tend to report feeling less confident in the president going forward, not more so, particularly Democrats (60 percent). Just a quarter of Americans are more confident, including 51 percent of Republicans.
One reason President Trump continues to elicit negative ratings from Democrats is that many of them still report feeling "scared" with him as president. In fact, Americans overall report their emotions haven't changed much from before he took office, with 81 percent of Republicans mainly excited or optimistic, and 57 percent of Democrats still concerned, or scared.
A president's ratings at the 100-day mark don't predict much about what his or her ratings will do over their term. Historically, recent Presidents' approval ratings have moved up and down after those 100 days, depending on events and their performance as the years went on.
President Trump's ratings are lower than his predecessors at this 100-day point.
About six in 10 Americans think the country is off on the wrong track, similar to what it was before Donald Trump was elected president, but partisan views on this measure have tended to define it in recent years, and now they have flipped: Democrats today think the country is headed in the wrong direction, and Republicans are optimistic – a reversal from last fall and from throughout much of Obama's presidency.
This poll was conducted by telephone April 21-24, 2017 among a random sample of 1,214 adults nationwide. Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS of Media, PA. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones.
The poll employed a random digit dial methodology. For the landline sample, a respondent was randomly selected from all adults in the household. For the cell sample, interviews were conducted with the person who answered the phone.
Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish using live interviewers. The data have been weighted to reflect U.S. Census figures on demographic variables.
The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher and is available by request. The margin of error includes the effects of standard weighting procedures which enlarge sampling error slightly.
This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
