Following the embarrassing failure of the effort to repeal Obamacare, President Donald Trump’s national approval rating has hit a new low.
The Gallup 3-day tracking poll puts Trump’s approval at 36%. His previous low was 37% earlier in March. His highest rating was 46% following his inauguration in January.
Trump’s 36% is not the lowest on record. Seven previous presidents recorded approval ratings below that mark at least once during their career, with Harry Truman dropping to 22%.
President Barack Obama’s lowest rating was 38%, President Bill Clinton’s all-time low was 37%.
Presidents George W. Bush (lowest approval rating: 25%), George H.W. Bush (29%), Ronald Reagan (35%), Jimmy Carter (28%), Richard Nixon (24%), Lyndon Johnson (35%) and Harry Truman (22%) all had job approval ratings lower than 36% at least once during their administrations.
Presidential job approval ratings are fluid, and all presidents have seen both upward and downward swings in their ratings at various points in their administrations — a historical precedent indicating Trump’s approval could drop further or recover in the weeks and months ahead. An encouraging sign for Trump, perhaps, is that all presidents whose ratings fell below 36% — with the exception of Nixon — saw their ratings improve thereafter. Clinton provides a particularly relevant example. His approval rating dropped to 37% in June 1993 but recovered to 56% by September of that year.
