President Trump’s approval rating surged to 50 percent, up from a low of 42 percent, according to a Rasmussen poll released Monday.
It’s the first time the president’s overall job approval rating has been back in the 50s in nearly a month. Just after his inauguration, Trump’s approval peaked at 59 percent and remained in the 50s every day until early March. It’s been as low as 42 percent since then.
While Obama finished his tenure in office at 62 percent, he had been below 50 percent only months earlier.
“The latest figures for Trump include 30 percent who Strongly Approve of the way Trump is performing and 39 percent who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -9,” Rasmussen reported.
The poll also found 37 percent of voters said the U.S. should use military force to prevent North Korea’s further development of nuclear weapons, and only 45 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the IRS.
Fully half said they don’t trust the federal agency to enforce tax laws fairly.
Trump’s approval surge comes after he allowed the use of a massive “MOAB” bomb of nearly 11 tons to destroy an ISIS operations center in the Middle East. The move was perceived as a warning to North Korea, which has been boasting of its nuclear capabilities and making threats to the United States.
Respondents were also asked about new U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, approved by the U.S. Senate last week.
“A month ago, only 43 percent of voters felt Gorsuch deserved the job, but that’s more positive than voters felt about both of Obama’s choices for the high court – Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan,” Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen reports its daily tracking results are “collected via telephone surveys of 500 likely voters per night and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. To reach those who have abandoned traditional landline telephones, Rasmussen Reports uses an online survey tool to interview randomly selected participants from a demographically diverse panel. The margin of sampling error for the full sample of 1,500 Likely Voters is +/- 2.5 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.”
The Washington Examiner reported the president was quick to notice the result.
“Trump retweeted a post by Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report linking to a Rasmussen Reports poll showing Trump’s approval rating is at 50 percent,” the report said.
Rasmussen’s results had Trump up six points from the 44 percent approval rating he had a week ago in the same poll.
Trump has faced relentless opposition from the left, including from former President Obama, who set up a command center only a few miles from the White House, and Obama’s Organizing for Action political activists.
Opposition also has come from establishment media, with headlines Monday including “Why Trump’s poor start matters” (NBC News), “Racism motivated Trump voters more than authoritarianism” (Washington Post) and “President Trump’s loose talk on North Korea” (New York Times).
Trump, meanwhile, has worked on health care, immigration, reducing federal regulations, halting the government’s promotion of abortion and bolstering America’s deterrence worldwide.