By Jason Lange
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Donald Trump’s presidential approval rating fell in recent days, tying the lowest level of his term, as more Americans frowned on his handling of the cost of living, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The three-day poll, which concluded on Sunday, showed 40% of Americans approve of the Republican leader’s job performance, compared to 42% in an October 15-20 Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Trump’s popularity has been within a percentage point or two of its current level in every Reuters/Ipsos poll since mid-May. The share of people who say they disapprove of his performance has grown, from 52% in a May 16-18 poll to 57% in the latest survey.
The president won last year’s election on promises to tackle the surge in inflation that damaged his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden. But Americans give Trump exceptionally low marks on how he has managed the costs weighing on U.S. households, with 63% of the country disapproving of his handling of the cost of living, up from 58% earlier this month and more than twice the share who think he has done a good job on costs.
The pace of inflation has edged higher since Trump took office in January, even as the job market has weakened, leading the country’s central bank to lower interest rates.
PUBLIC REACTION TO SHUTDOWN REMAINS MUTED
The survey results suggest many Americans have only modest concerns about the ongoing government shutdown, the second-longest in U.S. history, which has furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal workers. Some 29% said they either didn’t care or were glad about the shutdown, while 20% said they were angry. Some 50% said they were frustrated. Most respondents said the shutdown had little or no impact on their lives.
While Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, Democrats have blocked spending bills in the U.S. Senate, pledging to hold their ground until Republicans agree to extend health insurance subsidies due to expire at the end of the year.
In principle, the Democratic Party’s position appears to have significant backing. Some 73% of Americans polled want the insurance subsidies to continue despite arguments that they will increase the federal budget deficit, little changed from the results of a poll conducted earlier in the month.
The poll, which was conducted online, surveyed 1,018 U.S. adults nationwide, and its findings on the views of all Americans had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. It had a 6-point margin of error for the views of Republicans and Democrats.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; editing by Scott Malone and Deepa Babington)
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