US CBS: "Approval Rating Drops from 53% in February to 42% Now"
"89% of Respondents Say All 'Epstein Allegations' Should Be Disclosed"
Six months after the launch of Donald Trump's second-term administration as President of the United States, a recent poll shows that his approval rating continues to decline among Americans.
According to the results of a poll conducted by CBS and the polling firm YouGov between the 16th and 18th (local time), released on the 20th, which surveyed 2,343 American adults (with a margin of error of ±2.5 percentage points), President Trump's approval rating stands at 42%. This marks an 11 percentage point drop compared to the 53% recorded in a poll on February 9, immediately after his inauguration. President Trump's approval rating has steadily declined over time, with 51% on March 2, 47% on April 13, and 45% on June 8.
However, this figure varied significantly depending on respondents' party affiliation and political orientation. Among Republicans, President Trump's approval rating was 89%, but only 11% among Democrats. Additionally, 86% of conservative respondents supported President Trump's job performance, while only 5% of progressive respondents did so.
Looking at approval ratings by area of job performance, support for handling inflation was only 36%, and support for the economy was just 40%. Even in immigration policy, an area where President Trump has shown strength, the approval rating was 44%, a significant drop from the 54% recorded in March.
In particular, only 40% of respondents supported President Trump's tariff policy, which has disrupted the global trade order. Regarding whether President Trump has a clear plan for his tariff policy, 57% of respondents answered "no." Furthermore, 61% of respondents said the Trump administration is focusing excessively on tariff policy.
Regarding the recent controversy over the "Jeffrey Epstein" allegations, 75% of respondents said they were dissatisfied with how the Trump administration is handling the issue. In addition, 89% of respondents believe that the Department of Justice should disclose all information related to the allegations.
The "Epstein allegations" have become a hot topic in U.S. political circles. Previously, on the 18th, President Trump filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which reported that he had written a letter containing obscene drawings to billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein more than 20 years ago. President Trump named Dow Jones, the publisher of the WSJ, as well as Rupert Murdoch, the founder of parent company News Corporation and a media mogul, as defendants in the suit.
Murdoch is the major shareholder of Fox News, a conservative outlet that connects President Trump and his supporters. Observers note that if this massive lawsuit leads to conflict between President Trump and Murdoch, it could affect the close relationship between the Trump administration and Fox News.
Meanwhile, concerns are being raised that President Trump is causing psychological instability in the markets by repeatedly bringing up the fate of Jerome Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve. In response to a WSJ report that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant had advised against firing Chair Powell, President Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social that "WSJ continued its typical lies by reporting that Secretary Besant explained to me that firing Powell 'too late' would not be good for the markets," and emphasized, "I know better than anyone what is good for the markets."
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