Americans are divided along party lines on whether or not Donald Trump will be able to effectively handle his presidential responsibilities, according to a new Gallup poll released Monday.
Less than half of those polled expressed confidence in Trump’s ability to “Prevent major scandals in his administration,” “Handle an international crisis” and “Use military force wisely,” while 60 percent said they are confident that Trump will work with Congress and 59 percent expressed confidence in Trump’s ability to effectively manage the economy.
The poll showed Americans divided along party lines in their confidence — or lack thereof — in Trump.
Just 17 percent of Democrats expressed confidence in Trump’s ability to prevent major scandals or handle an international crisis. Among Republicans, 84 percent are confident in Trump’s ability to prevent scandals and 81 percent expressed confidence in his ability to handle an international crisis.
Democrats trust Trump’s ability to work with Congress and handle the economy more than anything else: 29 percent expressed confidence in his ability to carry out the former, while 35 percent said they are confident he can handle the latter.
90 percent of Republicans said they trust Trump to effectively handle the economy, while 89 percent said they are confident that Trump will be able to work with Congress.
On the whole, Americans have less trust in Trump’s ability to carry out his presidential duties than they did in Barack Obama and George W. Bush at the start of their administrations.
A Gallup poll in January 2009 found that 74 percent of Americans said they were confident in Obama’s ability to prevent major scandals — the area in which Americans have the least amount of confidence in Trump — while 77 percent said the same of Bush in January 2001.