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.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
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.
-
Syria's Druze sect: caught in the middle of Israeli tensions
The Explainer Israel has used attacks on religious minority by forces loyal to Syria's new government to justify strikes across the border
-
Athens city and beach: The Dolli at Acropolis and Cape Sounio
The Week Recommends Luxury living in two Grecotels designed to showcase ancient Greek ruins and modern Greek style
-
Tivoli Kopke Porto Gaia Hotel: a foodie haven in Portugal's Douro Valley
The Week Recommends Luxury city hotel with food from a Michelin-starred chef – and plenty of port
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment