KEY POINTS

  • Trump's approval rating on Hill-HarrisX has remained fairly stable, for the most part languishing below 50%
  • His approval rating in the two latest polls hit 50%
  • 60% of white respondents back Trump

The latest Hill/HarrisX poll conducted May 6 again saw a climb in President Donald Trump's approval rating and his solid support among Republicans in previous polls extending back to March. It also confirms what pollsters say is the unusual stability in Trump's approval poll numbers.

The question asked was: "Do you approve or disapprove of the job Donald Trump is doing as President of the United States?"

The poll showed Trump's approval rating at 51%, up 1% from the previous poll two weeks ago, with 49% disapproving. There were, however, more respondents that strongly disapproved of Trump's performance (35%) compared to those that strongly approved (30%).

As in past polls, it's the men who support Trump. This new poll showed 61% of male respondent voters approving of Trump compared to only 42% of women. Only 39% of men disapproved of Trump's job handling compared to 58% of women.

And, as in past polls, white people were the racial base of Trump's support. Fully 60% of white respondents like Trump compared to 19% of blacks and 44% of Hispanics. Forty-percent of whites don't approve of the way Trump handles his job compared to 81% of blacks and 56% of Hispanics.

Hill-HarrisX data showed Trump's approval fluctuated only slightly throughout his presidency, which is puzzling when compared to former presidents. Trump's lowest recorded approval on Hill-HarrisX is 44% in a January 2019 poll. Trump's highest approval came in at 52% in an April 2020 survey.

"President Trump's approval rating is one of the really fascinating and hard to understand or hard to park facets of modern American public opinion," said Chris Jackson, Vice President of Ipsos. "It has been remarkably stable over the last three years of his presidency with only moving a few percentage points up or down in any single moment in time despite a series of increasingly outlandish and wild events."

In an April 19 Hill-HarrisX survey, Trump's job approval stood at 50% among registered voters. A Hill/HarrisX poll conducted from March 8 to 9 found 54% of registered voters disapproved of the job Trump is doing as president compared to 46% that say otherwise.

This result was a 3% drop in Trump's approval rating from the previous survey taken Feb. 1 to 2. This poll revealed a 51% disapproval and a 49% approval rating. The decrease is within the poll's margin of error.

President Donald Trump is the first US president since Richard Nixon in the 1970s to refuse to release his tax returns
President Donald Trump is the first US president since Richard Nixon in the 1970s to refuse to release his tax returns AFP / MANDEL NGAN