CNN’s latest poll shows that 52 percent of Americans believe that Donald Trump has overstepped his presidential power, with 54 percent saying it was a bad move to give “First Buddy” Elon Musk a job reshaping the government.
The poll, conducted by SSRS from Feb. 13-17, also found that 52 percent of Americans are seemingly dissatisfied with how he’s running the country with just 47 percent satisfied.
However, CNN political director David Chalian pointed out that when discussing Trump, it is best to compare the president’s poll numbers with his first term.
“47 percent is actually a numeric high in CNN polling for Trump ever; across the four years of his first administration we never saw him at 47 percent approval,” Chalian said.
He said while Trump 2.0 is doing better than his first time in the White House, he pales in comparison to his predecessors who all faired better in polls at this point in their presidency.
When it comes to the president’s efforts to reduce the price of everyday goods, 62 percent of Americans polled think he has “not gone far enough.” In comparison, about 27 percent say his efforts have “been about right,” and only 11 percent believe “he has gone too far.”
“This is what he promised to do, and we heard him in the last several weeks try to temper expectations when he speaks publicly that getting prices down might be tough. But this was issue number one for America in the election, Chalian said. “And you can see such a large swath of Americans, and that includes a bunch of Republicans, who don’t think he’s gone far enough yet.”
With most Americans polled saying it was a big mistake to bring in Elon Musk, it is perhaps unsurprising that 51 percent of those surveyed say the Department of Government Efficiency is going too far in cutting federal programs and workers.
The one bright spot for Trump in the poll is the reponse to his handling of immigration and deportations, with 39 percent believing his approach has been about right and another 16 percent saying he hasn’t gone far enough. Combined that is outpacing the 45 percent of people who believe he has gone to far on that measure.
