New poll reveals remarkable change in public's view of the Trump presidency

A new poll tracking President Donald Trump’s approval rating shows American voters’ view of the president has shifted in his favor in recent weeks.

Rasmussen Reports, a public-opinion polling organization, reported on Friday that Trump’s approval rating among likely U.S. voters hit the 50 percent mark, the first time Rasmussen has recorded a Trump approval rating at 50 percent or higher since April 24, when Rasmussen found 51 percent of likely voters approved of Trump’s performance.

In Rasmussen’s survey conducted June 13, which included 1,500 likely U.S. voters and a margin of error of 3 percentage points, only 43 percent of likely voters approved of Trump’s presidency. The surge in Trump’s approval rating appears to be the sharpest increase of his short time in office.

In another poll conducted by Rasmussen on June 8 and June 11, 61 percent of 1,000 likely voters said they think the U.S. economy today is “at least somewhat fair,” up from 45 percent the last time Rasmussen asked the question, in October 2016.

On Friday, Zogby Analytics released the results of a survey it conducted June 9-12 of 1,031 likely voters. Although it found Trump’s approval rating to be only 40 percent, which Zogby says “is low for a beginning president,” Trump scored higher than almost every other key political figure included in the poll.

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According to Zogby Analytics, Trump’s approval rating beat Attorney General Jeff Sessions (35 percent); Congress (25 percent); House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who scored 29 percent; House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who had 36 percent, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who earned an approval rating of 33 percent.

The only government official who scored higher than Trump in Zogby’s poll was Trump’s Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who scored an approval rating of 43 percent.