Poll: Trump's job approval rises and independents grow wary of Democratic oversight


President Trump's job approval rating has ticked up to 43 percent in a CNN/SSRS poll released Wednesday, a 1 percentage point improvement since March and Trump's highest rating since April 2017. Trump's disapproval rating also rose 1 point, to 52 percent. A presidency-high 35 percent of voters strongly approve of Trump's job performance. Other polls have show Trump's approval rating drop significantly after Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report was released two weeks ago. Trump's FiveThirtyEight approval average is 41 percent and RealClearPolitics puts it at 43 percent.
With Mueller's report in, 44 percent of adults in the CNN poll say congressional Democrats are doing too much to investigate Trump, up from 38 percent in March; most of that shift has come from independents, 46 percent of whom say Democrats are going too far. But the same people largely approve of individual aspects of oversight: 66 percent want Trump to release his tax returns, 61 percent favor Congress taking legal action to get the unredacted Mueller report, 58 percent want Congress to investigate if Trump committed obstruction of justice, and 54 percent say Trump isn't doing enough to cooperate with Democratic investigations.
A 48 percent plurality say they already believe Trump obstructed justice during the Mueller investigation, versus 45 percent who say he did not; 50 percent say Trump's public comments on the investigation have been mostly false; and 51 percent disapprove of how Trump has handled the Mueller report's release.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
SSRS conducted the poll April 25-28 among 1,007 adults nationwide via phone. The full sample has a margin of error of ±3.8 percentage points.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein files
Speed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
-
India rejects Trump threat over Russian oil
Speed Read The president said he would raise tariffs on India for buying and selling Russian oil
-
NY's Hochul vows response to Texas gerrymander
Speed Read Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to play ball with redistricting that favors the Democrats
-
Texas Democrats exit state to block redistricting vote
Speed Read More than 51 legislators fled the state in protest of the GOP's plan to redraw congressional districts
-
Trump criticized for firing BLS chief after jobs report
Speed Read Bureau of Labor Statistics chief Erika McEntarfer oversaw a July jobs report that the president claims was rigged
-
Trump revives K-12 Presidential Fitness Test
Speed Read The Obama administration phased the test out in 2012, replacing it with a program focused on overall health rather than standardized benchmarks
-
El Salvador scraps term limits, boosting Nayib Bukele
Speed Read New constitutional changes will allow presidents to seek reelection an indefinite number of times
-
Trump assigns tariffs, delays all except on Canada
Speed Read A 35% tariff on many Canadian goods has gone into effect