President Trump’s approval rating recovers

A poll announced on Thursday reveals that the approval rating of U.S. President Donald Trump is ticking up to the level at the beginning of his term in office. Just earlier this year, people said that anyone from the Democratic Party could stop Mr. Trump from being reelected. The situation, however, is somewhat different. With one year and five months left until the next presidential election, the political sector in Washington assess that reelection of President Trump is highly likely under this atmosphere.

The average support rate of a poll on the way Mr. Trump handles his duties that was conducted after Friday was 44.3 percent, which is exactly in accordance with the average rate one week after President Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2017. President Trump’s approval rating fell to its lowest of 37.3 percent on December 15, 2017 due to allegation of Russia’s engagement in the U.S. presidential election, but improved ratings are to be seen as a result of economic policies including tax reduction and job creation as well as progress in the North Korea policy.

Reelection of President Trump is of global interest from the beginning as Mr. Trump was in the vanguard of changes that brought much impact through “America First” policy. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who criticized President Trump during the previous presidential election, recently stated in a speech that President Trump would easily become a Republican candidate and secure reelection when considering his economic achievements.

Concrete supports are also likely to be of great help to President Trump’s reelection. According to a joint survey conducted by The Washington Post and NBC in April, only four percent of those who responded that they “voted for Mr. Trump” will “vote for another candidate if they are able to vote again now.” A lawyer who enjoys strong personal connections in the political world stated that the belief that anti-immigration policies and protectionism, neoisolationism diplomacy and reduction of federal government’s debt are only possible with Mr. Trump stands firm amongst the middle-class whites. The rate of white voters is as high as 67 percent.


Jeong-Hun Park sunshade@donga.com