Trump's approval rating dips again in new poll as some of his supporters sour on his performance
Trump's so-called 'Big, Beautiful Bill' and other policies, don't seem all that pretty to Americans, whose views of the president have grown more negative in the almost seven months he's been in office.
According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted between August 4 and 10, just 38 percent of respondents approve of the way Trump is handling his job, while 60 percent disapprove.
A majority of Americans, 53 percent, say Trump is making the federal government work worse, while just 27 percent say he's making it work better.
In early July, Trump signed the massive bill that extended his 2017 tax cuts and increased border security spending while cutting social programs including Medicaid and SNAP.
The new poll shows 46 percent of Americans disapprove of the 'Big, Beautiful Bill,' while 32 percent approve.
An even larger group of respondents, 61 percent, disapprove of Trump's sweeping global tariffs.
Trump announced a baseline 10 percent tariff.
Even Trump's own party has a less glowing view of him than when he first took office.
In the new poll, 55 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said Trump is making the federal government work better, which is down from the 76 percent of Republicans who expected he would make it work better in the weeks after he took office.
Trump's approval rating among people who identify as strong Republicans sits at 93 percent, which is only slightly down from 96 percent at the start of his term.
When looking at another key issue, the Trump administration's handling of the files related to the government's investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Republicans are divided.
The new poll finds 53 percent of Republicans disapprove of the administration's handling of the so-called Epstein files, while 44 percent approve.
In general, 70 percent of Americans disapprove of the administration's handling of the Epstein files, and 63 percent have little to no trust in what the administration is saying about the information related to the wealthy financier who socialized with the president decades ago.
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The Guardian
16 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: ‘Up to Zelenskyy' to reach ceasefire with Russia, says Trump after Putin summit
Donald Trump has put the onus on Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to reach a ceasefire with Russia after the US leader held direct talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska on Friday. Trump said Zelenskyy and Putin were going to set up a meeting to try to reach a ceasefire to end the war in Ukraine. 'Now, it's really up to President Zelenskyy to get it done,' Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity after his meeting with Putin. 'And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit. But it's up to President Zelenskyy … And if they'd like, I'll be at that next meeting.' Trump said the direct talks with Putin on Friday did not yield an agreement to pause the war in Ukraine, though he claimed 'great progress' during the nearly three-hour-long summit. 'I believe we had a very productive meeting,' the US president said at a joint press conference with Putin after the talks. 'There were many, many points that we agreed on.' Putin, speaking through an interpreter, suggested the two leaders had hammered out 'an understanding'. He said he expected Ukraine and its European allies to accept the results of the US-Russia negotiation constructively and not try to 'disrupt the emerging progress'. The Russian leader agreed that Ukraine's security must be guaranteed – but also said that the 'root causes' of the conflict must be resolved. Zelenskyy said Russia was continuing to attack Ukraine ahead of the Trump-Putin summit, but claimed its attempt to 'show strength' with a new assault in the east had failed. 'On the day of the negotiations, they also kill people. And that says a lot,' Zelenskyy said on Telegram on Friday. 'The war continues. It continues precisely because there is no order, nor any indication that Moscow is preparing to end this war.' Ukraine said it had conducted a long-range drone attack on a supply ship that it claims was carrying drone components from Iran, hours before the Trump-Putin summit. Photographs showed a partially sunken cargo vessel at Olya, near Astrakhan, north of the Caspian Sea. Ukraine's military claimed credit for the attack and the overnight bombing of an oil refinery at Samara on the Volga River, deep inside Russia. Ukraine's general staff said the ship was 'loaded with components' for Shahed-type drones 'and ammunition from Iran'. Russia launched a ballistic missile into Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region hours before the Trump-Putin summit, killing one person and wounding at least one other, and causing a fire. 'A truck and a minibus were damaged in a hostile attack on the Dnipro district. A man was killed. Another person was injured,' the regional governor, Serhiy Lysak, said on Telegram. The city of Dnipro is a logistics hub for Ukrainian forces. The Ukrainian military says it has retaken six villages in the east that Russia captured in a push this week. On Tuesday, Russia made a swift advance to the town of Dobropillia, piercing through Ukraine's defences. 'The advance of the enemy was stopped by the forces of the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine (NGU) 'Azov', together with adjacent and subordinate units, over the past three days,' Ukraine's general staff said. The town is now under constant Russian drone and shell fire. Ukrainian military intelligence claimed that Russia is preparing to test its new nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered cruise missile and, if successful, plans to use the results to bolster its negotiating position with the west. Military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov told Reuters that Moscow saw the test as diplomatic leverage. 'Russia is preparing for another round of tests of the 9M730 Burevestnik,' his statement said. 'The purpose of these tests is to validate scientific and technical solutions implemented by the missile. If successful, Russia will leverage the test results to defend its interests in negotiations.'
Reuters
16 minutes ago
- Reuters
'No deal until there's a deal': Trump-Putin talks yield no breakthrough on Ukraine
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Aug 15 (Reuters) - A highly anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday yielded no agreement to resolve or pause Moscow's war in Ukraine, though both leaders described the talks as productive. During a brief appearance before the media following the nearly three-hour meeting in Alaska, the two leaders said they had made progress on unspecified issues. But they offered no details and took no questions, with the normally loquacious Trump ignoring shouted questions from reporters. "We've made some headway," Trump said, standing in front of a backdrop that read, "Pursuing Peace." "There's no deal until there's a deal," he added. The talks did not initially appear to have produced meaningful steps toward a ceasefire in the deadliest conflict in Europe in 80 years, a goal Trump had set ahead of the summit. But simply sitting down face-to-face with the U.S. president represented a victory for Putin, who had been ostracized by Western leaders since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Following the summit, Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity that he would hold off on imposing tariffs on China for buying Russian oil after making progress with Putin. He has targeted India, another major buyer of Russian crude, with an additional 25% tariff on U.S. imports. "Because of what happened today, I think I don't have to think about that now," Trump said of Chinese tariffs. "I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don't have to think about that right now." Trump has also threatened sanctions on Moscow but has thus far not followed through, even after Putin ignored a Trump-imposed ceasefire deadline earlier this month. In the Fox News interview, Trump also suggested a meeting would now be set up between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, which he might also attend. He gave no further details on who was organizing the meeting or when it might be. Putin made no mention of meeting Zelenskiy when speaking to reporters earlier. He said he expected Ukraine and its European allies to accept the results of the U.S.-Russia negotiation constructively and not try to "disrupt the emerging progress." He also repeated Moscow's long-held position that what Russia claims to be the "root causes" of the conflict must be eliminated to reach a long-term peace, a sign he remains resistant to a ceasefire. There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv to the summit, the first meeting between Putin and a U.S. president since the war began. When asked by Hannity what he would advise Zelenskiy, Trump said, "Gotta make a deal." "Look, Russia is a very big power, and they're not," Trump added. The war has killed or injured well over a million people from both sides, including thousands of mostly Ukrainian civilians, according to analysts. Zelenskiy has ruled out formally handing Moscow any territory and is also seeking a security guarantee backed by the United States. Trump said he would call Zelenskiy and NATO leaders to update them on the Alaska talks. As the two leaders were talking, the war raged on, with most eastern Ukrainian regions under air raid alerts. Governors of Russia's Rostov and Bryansk regions reported that some of their territories were under Ukrainian drone attacks. Ukraine's opposition lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko said on the Telegram messaging app, "It seems Putin has bought himself more time. No ceasefire or de-escalation has been agreed upon." The anticlimactic end to the closely watched summit was in stark contrast to the pomp and circumstance with which it began. When Putin arrived at an Air Force base in Alaska, a red carpet awaited him, where Trump greeted Putin warmly as U.S. military aircraft flew overhead. Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court, accused of the war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia denies the allegations, and the Kremlin has dismissed the ICC warrant as null and void. Russia and the United States are not members of the court. The day before the summit, Putin held out the prospect of something Trump wants - a new nuclear arms control agreement to replace the last surviving one, which is due to expire in February. It was unclear if the issue was discussed on Friday. Zelenskiy, who was not invited to Alaska, and his European allies had feared Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict and recognizing - if only informally - Russian control over one-fifth of Ukraine. Trump had sought to assuage such concerns on Friday ahead of the talks, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial concessions. "I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I'm here to get them at a table," he said. Asked what would make the meeting a success, he told reporters: "I want to see a ceasefire rapidly ... I'm not going to be happy if it's not today ... I want the killing to stop." The meeting also included U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Trump's special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff; Russian foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov; and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Trump, who said during his presidential campaign that he would end the Ukraine war within 24 hours, conceded on Thursday it had proven a tougher task than he had expected. He had said if Friday's talks went well, quickly arranging a second, three-way summit with Zelenskiy would be more important than his encounter with Putin. Trump ended his remarks on Friday by telling Putin, "I'd like to thank you very much, and we'll speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon." "Next time in Moscow," Putin responded. Trump said he might "get a little heat on that one" but that he could "possibly see it happening." Zelenskiy said ahead of Friday's summit that the meeting should open the way for a "just peace" and three-way talks that included him, but added that Russia was continuing to wage war. "It's time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America," Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.
Reuters
16 minutes ago
- Reuters
TAKEAWAYS Warm words contrast with cold reality of no deal at Trump-Putin summit
Aug 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged warm words on Friday but left the much anticipated Alaska summit without an agreement to end Moscow's war against Ukraine and gave no details about what they discussed. Here are some takeaways from the talks: There was no lack of warmth between the two leaders when they met on the tarmac shortly after landing at a U.S. military base in Alaska. Trump and Putin greeted each other like old friends on a red carpet rolled out for their first meeting since 2019. They shook hands, smiled broadly and touched each other on the arm in an expression of apparent affection. That warmth seemed to have waned when they appeared before the media hours later, though both men still took pains to praise each other. Trump, who was hosting the summit, deferred to Putin, who spoke first and said he was glad to see Trump alive, a reference to the assassination attempt Trump survived last year. Trump said he had always had a fantastic relationship with the Kremlin chief, referred to him by his first name and called Putin's words profound. Gone was any mention of Trump's frustration with Putin over the war he initiated in 2022 or the threat of sanctions if no moves are made to end it. But their efforts to project a positive personal relationship belied an underlying truth: friendship aside, they did not announce an agreement to end the war. Hours before he met Putin, Trump said his goal for the summit was a halt to the fighting between Russia and Ukraine. Hours later, when the leaders emerged from their meeting with advisers, no such deal had materialized. "We really made some great progress today," Trump told reporters without elaborating. "There's no deal until there's a deal." Before the summit, Trump and his advisers had sought to downplay expectations of a breakthrough, a far cry from his vow as a presidential candidate to end the war in 24 hours. But Trump made clear he wanted a ceasefire pact, and the backdrops at the summit venue said "Pursuing Peace." Trump left Alaska with little to show for his efforts, puncturing a hole in his dealmaker-image and depriving him of an accomplishment to tout in his not-so-subtle campaign for the Nobel Peace Prize. Putin showed a mastery of saying things Trump likes to hear, even without giving significant ground. He gave credence to Trump's unproven assertion that had Trump been president four years ago instead of Democrat Joe Biden, the war in Ukraine would never have started. "I'm quite sure it would indeed be so," he said. Russia invaded Ukraine under Putin's direction. Biden warned him not to. Despite playing into Trump's theory on the origins of the war, Putin signaled that the Ukraine conflict was a ways away from being solved. "In order to make the settlement last long-term we need to eliminate all the roots of that conflict," Putin said. "Russia has its own national interests." While Putin didn't give details, he has long told local audiences that NATO's eastward expansion was the main cause of the war because it put his country's survival at risk, a view the Western military alliance rejects. Putin has committed to fight until he could guarantee a Ukraine that's demilitarized and neutral. With those goals far from reach, Putin's focus on Friday on "the roots of that conflict" and "national interests" suggest he is prepared to fight on. At their 2018 summit in Helsinki, under questioning, opens new tab from U.S. journalists, Trump sided with Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies about allegations that Russia intervened in the 2016 election and blamed both Washington and Moscow for the deterioration in U.S.-Russia relations. His words drew sharp criticism from Democrats and Republicans at home. Putin, meanwhile, confirmed he had wanted Trump to win the 2016 election. The two leaders avoided the chance for mishaps in front of the media on Friday. After making statements, they declined to take questions, depriving reporters of a chance to probe for details about their talks. But Putin got a win with the invitation alone. The Russian president has been ostracized by other world leaders, so his meeting with the most powerful man in the world was a victory for the former KGB spy, and his seeming satisfaction with that showed.
