Half of Americans approve of how President-elect Trump is handling the transition to the Oval Office, according to a new poll.
An NBC/WSJ poll released Sunday found 50 percent of U.S. adults are content with Trump’s work thus far, while 41 percent disapprove.
The president-elect’s Dec. 12-15 numbers are significantly lower than the 73 percent that President Obama received in 2008 and the 77 percent awarded to Bill Clinton. Due to recount issues in Florida, George W. Bush’s approval numbers were not surveyed.
Responses were mainly along party lines, with four-in-five Republicans responding favorably and only 12 percent of Democrats saying the same. Trump’s seizing support from half of respondents was likely a result of independents — 53 percent of whom approve of his work thus far.
Trump’s transition approval numbers may be affected by the ongoing news coverage and investigation into Russia’s interference in the U.S. election, according to another poll released Sunday.
Forty-three percent of Americans say they are bothered a “great deal” by the allegations, while 23 percent say they are not concerned. Democrats are overwhelmingly worried about the interference, with 86 percent admitting to concerns.
The polls surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults, approximately half by cell phone. They had a 3.1 percent margin of error.
