# President Trump's approval rating at the highest it's been in many months. Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 24, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457 "2018-10-24T21:16:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/41 "2018-10-25T10:04:41Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > 1. The Leftist Media has successfully played into the hands of the right by, in fact, being a Leftist media. They’ve lost the trust of most of the country so they are failing to shoot down the Republican bogey men in any way. 😕 The “leftist media” is stuff like, I don’t know, Jacobin Magazine. How on _earth_ have those kind of outlets had any impact on anything? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/42 "2018-10-25T11:09:50Z")
“Leftist” is the new (GHWB voice) “Llll-ibral” ---
**Author:** ![str8cashhomie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@str8cashhomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/str8cashhomie)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/43 "2018-10-25T11:36:31Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Yes and 40 as “in the works” and only 8 as “broken”. Do you feel that, 21 or so months into his administration, “he also has not fulfilled almost any of his campaign promises” is an accurate representation of the reality of the situation? None of us have any idea how many promises he will end up fulfilling. At present he has fulfilled almost none of his promises. No, I don’t think his approval rating is up because people are excited that in the next 2 years he might fulfill more promises than the tiny number he has so far. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/44 "2018-10-25T11:38:48Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I believe Obama had the same approval rating at this point in his Presidency. > > [Link, but three months old.](https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/trump-approval-rating-gallup-poll-obama-popularity/) [Check out how Trump compares to previous presidents](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/?ex_cid=rrpromo). Clinton was almost as low as Trump at this point in his presidency, but the only tracked president who was actually as unpopular as Trump at this point was–and this was a surprise to me too–Ronald Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/45 "2018-10-25T12:54:00Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I believe Obama had the same approval rating at this point in his Presidency. > > [Link, but three months old.](https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/trump-approval-rating-gallup-poll-obama-popularity/) Right, and then your next step is showing me posters, media outlets, whatever, referring to that number as a high approval rating. I never said those other presidents never had low ratings, I said that, if they did, those ratings wouldn’t be considered high. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/46 "2018-10-25T15:12:31Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > No one said “none” either, though you’ve successfully vanquished that strawman. Someone _DID_ say he “has not fulfilled almost any” (you might have noticed, it was the post I responded to). Do you consider that argument vanquished as well? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/47 "2018-10-25T16:23:09Z")
Any mathematicians here want to weigh in on the official maximum percentage to count as “almost any,” or shall we just concede this devastating rhetorical victory to **HurricaneDitka** and move on? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/48 "2018-10-25T16:34:05Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > The last two days have wiped out any gains in 2018. It might bounce back, but this is a really weird time to make that statement. > [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > One could argue that it’s not (just) tariffs doing that damage. I agree that it’s a weird time to talk about market strength, however. Would the market results of the last two days have had any impact upon the PRIOR poll results showing Trump doing better? Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/49 "2018-10-25T16:36:15Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Someone _DID_ say he “has not fulfilled almost any” (you might have noticed, it was the post I responded to). Do you consider that argument vanquished as well? Oh, for the love of… Of 100 promises he’s made, he’s fulfilled 14. He has not fulfilled “almost any,” given that “14” is a very small percentage of “100.” Is there maybe some very slight exaggeration here? Maybe; maybe “almost any” should mean less than 10%. Of course, maybe we maybe should look at the prominence of his promises–how often they were made, how loudly they were made, that sort of thing. But it’s very absurd to hijack your own thread into a back-and-forth on the question of whether 14% is characterized best as “not almost any” or “barely any” or “only a tiny minority” or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![justins7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@justins7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justins7)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/50 "2018-10-25T16:37:40Z")
To me it seems like “the economy” —or the perception of it is behind those numbers. People mostly only care that they have a steady job. The unemployment rate has been reported to be the lowest in 50 years or so. People hear what is reported, and, if they are working, then think Trump is therefore doing a great job. (I don’t understand those unemployment figures. I know a lot of people who are unemployed, or semi-employed (including me), and of course perennially underpaid. And those numbers don’t count people who are no longer looking for work, or freelancers who don’t qualify for unemployment benefits, so this is all BS anyway.) I’m always surprised that Trump doesn’t have a 1% approval rating. How can there be that many misguided people? It’s hard for me to reckon with. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/51 "2018-10-25T16:52:33Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Would the market results of the last two days have had any impact upon the PRIOR poll results showing Trump doing better? Duh. No, but the market has been chaotic all year and tariffs are at least partly to blame. You said, “the markets are not going nuts over tariffs.” Google, “DJIA,” then click, “YTD.” The markets are indeed going nuts over tariffs. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/52 "2018-10-25T19:29:56Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > 😕 The “leftist media” is stuff like, I don’t know, Jacobin Magazine. How on _earth_ have those kind of outlets had any impact on anything? Kushner’s perfectly legal tax load, by the New York Times: [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21265038&postcount=72](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21265038&postcount=72) Zero Tolerance Criminal Prosecution policy, AKA"the Child Separation Policy", by almost everyone: [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21040893&postcount=190](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21040893&postcount=190) [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21040907&postcount=191](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21040907&postcount=191) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/53 "2018-10-25T19:34:53Z")
> [@justins7](#): > > I’m always surprised that Trump doesn’t have a 1% approval rating. During the election two years ago, Hillary asked why she was not polling 50 points ahead of Trump. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/54 "2018-10-25T19:58:51Z")
Hey! She was investigated for using an unsecure device for very important communications, with a possible relevance to national security! And not investigated just once, but a bunch of times! How can you trust somebody that irresponsible! ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/55 "2018-10-26T05:58:41Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > No, but the market has been chaotic all year and tariffs are at least partly to blame. You said, “the markets are not going nuts over tariffs.” Google, “DJIA,” then click, “YTD.” The markets are indeed going nuts over tariffs. Up until just very recently, the market was doing fine for the year. Then a few bad days wiped out the gain (500 pts of which the DJIA got back today). But the main point is that the market appears to be trading around earnings issues (like it should be), not worries about tariffs at this point. Which was my point. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/56 "2018-10-26T11:29:20Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Up until just very recently, the market was doing fine for the year. Then a few bad days wiped out the gain (500 pts of which the DJIA got back today). > > But the main point is that the market appears to be trading around earnings issues (like it should be), not worries about tariffs at this point. Which was my point. The impact around tariffs has been unclear, so the earnings and jobs growth, which is evidence in hand, are going to outweigh future concerns raised by trade policy. What’s unavoidable, though, is that tariffs are raising costs of many purchases, and this will cut into earnings. There are also markets that are essentially collapsing for American producers and supply chains that are being severely disrupted. That might not show up in Q3 data, but it will eventually reveal itself. And as Harley Davidson has shown, merely the politics of the trade war have had a real impact on the bottom line. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/57 "2018-10-26T16:04:15Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Up until just very recently, the market was doing fine for the year. This is false. Google “DJIA” click “YTD”. The market has been chaotic this year. It was dow for the year for almost all of April and May. A couple weeks ago it was up. A couple days ago it was down. That is what chaos looks like. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/58 "2018-10-26T16:18:14Z")
New poll shows Trump’s approval rating at 39%. > **[Trump’s job approval rating drops 3 points in NPR poll](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/413275-trumps-job-approval-rating-dips/)** > > President Trump’s approval rating stands at 39 percent, down 3 percentage points from last month, according to a new poll released Friday.The NPR–PBS NewsHour–Marist poll found that 39 percent… ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/59 "2018-10-27T00:09:17Z")
He’s down to 42.4%! :eek: Noise? Stock market? Bomber? How did he get so low?!???! Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s important. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457/60 "2018-10-27T01:20:55Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > He’s down to 42.4%! :eek: > > Noise? Stock market? Bomber? How did he get so low?!???! > > Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s important. Regression towards the mean (for Trump). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-trumps-approval-rating-at-the-highest-its-been-in-many-months-why/823457.md?page=4)