President Trump is leaning on infrastructure and jobs to lift his political fortunes, with support for other initiatives slipping amid questions about his involvement in a federal investigation into Russian meddling in 2016.
A blueprint to modernize the nation’s infrastructure, which Trump is unveiling to compete with the highly anticipated Senate testimony of fired FBI Director James Comey, is among the few arrows the president has left in his quiver.
“The American people elected a builder to be the 45th president of the United States,” White House deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders said, as she announced Trump’s trip to Ohio on Wednesday to discuss his plans to revamp inland waterways.
Trump, a career real estate developer, campaigned on rebuilding crumbling U.S. infrastructure, a goal of President Obama’s thwarted by Republicans in Congress leery of spending taxpayer dollars.
Trump, who has moved up the planned unveiling of his infrastructure overhaul from early next year to this week, would get around that by relying on private investment and privatization.
Polling has shown broad bipartisan support for the concept of infrastructure revitalization. A Gallup poll in March found that 76 percent of Americans agreed with Trump’s plan to invest $1 trillion.
Trump entered office historically unpopular but with an opportunity to grow because a range of his campaign pledges proved more appealing than he was. It was the opposite dynamic of his predecessor, who often proved more popular than his policies.
But the emerging details of Trump’s agenda, combined with the chaos surrounding his presidency — especially regarding his response to a federal probe into Russian involvement in the presidential election — has taken a toll.
Trump is experiencing some of the lowest job ratings of his tenure. And voter support for signature proposals to reform health care and exit the Paris climate agreement, as well as elements of his tax overhaul, also are underwater.
With Comey testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday and expected to say that Trump urged him to quash an investigation into Michael Flynn, his former national security advisor, accelerating his infrastructure rollout makes political sense.
The effort began Monday with Trump’s proposal to modernize and privatize the air traffic control system, resulting in some of the first nonpartisan praise the president has received in weeks.
“America’s aviation infrastructure needs an upgrade, and the administration’s initiative to restructure our air traffic control system represents a major step in the right direction,” Jacqueline Hinman, chairman and CEO of CH2M and Chair of the Business Roundtable Infrastructure Committee, said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the administration.”
Infrastructure investment also has the potential to create jobs and take attention away from other less popular items in the Trump agenda.
A May poll showed just 31 percent support for the American Health Care Act, the president’s proposal to partially repeal and replace Obamacare. A survey released Monday by the Washington Post and ABC News showed that 59 percent of adults opposed his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate change accord.
Trump’s job approval has fluctuated from the high 30s to the mid-40s during his four months in office. In the RealClearPolitics average of national polls, it sits at 39.7 percent. But the emerging poor reception for his major policies is a newer development.
Part of the problem, one GOP pollster conceded, is that Trump has become even more toxic over time, leading voters to reject policies simply because they are associated with him.
“If you outline the details of the Obamacare repeal and his tax plan without mentioning his name, it polls well. Add his name and it likely goes the other way,” said this pollster, who requested anonymity in order to speak candidly. “So you have a president that has upside down numbers but policies he’s pursuing that actually poll well.”
Even in March, the picture was much different, with Gallup finding that on a range of topics, Trump’s proposals — identified with him — were far more popular than he was. That’s the opposite of what polling found during much of Obama’s eight years.
Then, Trump’s pitch to require private businesses to provide paid family leave was supported by 81 percent of Americans; 61 percent supported middle-class tax cuts; 59 percent supported federal funding for programs that would let students attend the private or public school of their choice; and a plurality of 47 percent backed an increase in military spending.
Even his plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act polled even at 44 percent for, and 44 percent against.
Broadly, Trump is received best when he focuses on jobs and economy, with Americans tending to respond well to his calls to grow manufacturing sector jobs through the negotiation of better trade deals and government investment.
Republican voters are still giving Trump the benefit of the doubt in this regard. They’re looking past his flaws because of the positive policy outcomes he has delivered on regulations, and the courts — plus their hopes that he will fulfill campaign promises on healthcare reform and a tax overhaul.
Sixty-seven percent of Republicans supported his exit from the Paris agreement, another of his campaign vows.
“The political question then is, is this a sustainable, winning strategy for the midterms and re-election? The evidence so far suggests it may be,” Republican pollster Chris Wilson said. “Down-ballot Republican members of Congress and governors are, so far, not bearing the impact for Trump’s ill behavior.”
