President Donald Trump’s approval rating has hit the highest level of his presidency — 49% — in a Gallup poll.
Trump was boosted by increased approval among independent as well as Republican voters, according to the survey released Tuesday. The poll of 1,033 adults was conducted from Jan. 16 to 29, during Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate.
Trump’s approval rating among his fellow GOP voters now stands at 94% percent, 6 points higher than registered by the last Gallup poll.
And 42% of independents approve of the job he is doing, up 3 points.
Trump’s approval by Democrats fell to 7% — 3 points lower than a prior survey.
Gallup’s survey found the public evenly divided at 50% on the question of whether Trump deserves to be elected to a second term in the White House in November.
The poll, which had a margin of error of 4 percentage points, comes on the heels of other public surveys that have shown Trump’s popularity steadily creeping upward in recent months.
An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released last week showed Trump’s approval rating at 46%.
In that same poll, 49% of voters indicated they were not comfortable with Trump’s reelection.
And Trump trailed behind leading Democratic presidential contenders in approval ratings, according to that poll.
The Gallup and NBC/WSJ surveys were conducted amid the signing of the so-called phase one trade deal with China and the passage of the long-awaited overhaul of a trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. Trump has touted both deals as major wins for his administration.
Other polls show Trump’s approval ratings stuck below 45%, where it has been for the bulk of his presidency.
FiveThirtyEight’s poll tracker currently clocks Trump’s popularity at 43.6%. The polling average from RealClearPolitics shows Trump’s approval at 44.7%.
Trump is scheduled to deliver the annual State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
The House voted to impeach Trump on Dec. 18, alleging he abused the power of the presidency and obstructed Congress in connection with his withholding of nearly $400 million in congressionally appropriated military aid to Ukraine last summer, while pushing for Ukraine’s president to announce an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The Republican-majority Senate is expected to acquit him this week.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/04/trump-approval-hits-new-high-in-gallup-poll-despite-impeachment.html