Voters think President Trump has gone too far in wielding his power. They see the start of his term as “scary” and “chaotic.” And while it’s still early, they disapprove of his handling of many issues.
President Trump is approaching the 100-day mark of his second term with historically low levels of support and growing questions from voters about his use of power to advance his agenda, according to the latest poll from The New York Times and Siena College.
His approval rating is 42 percent, low for a president who just took office, and he shows early signs of erosion on a signature strength: the economy.
Mr. Trump’s base of Republican support remains resilient and solidly behind him. But he faces united opposition from Democratic voters and skepticism from independent ones.
Here are five takeaways:
Voters think Trump has ‘gone too far.’
Perhaps the most notable finding from the poll is that voters see Mr. Trump as overreaching in his first three months.
Over and over, voters said he had “gone too far.” Looking at all the ways he has changed the nation’s political and economic systems, 54 percent said he had “gone too far” — twice as many as said he had been “about right.”
But voters also applied that label on several policies that he has tried to sell, including tariffs, immigration enforcement and cuts to the federal work force. Majorities of voters agreed that Mr. Trump had gone too far on all three issues.
The New York Times/Siena College Poll
April 21 to 24
Percent of voters who said the following words described Donald Trump’s second term in office well:
The New York Times/Siena College Poll
April 21 to 24
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling …