Has Donald Trump Finally Beaten Barack Obama in a Poll?

Harriet Sinclair ,Newsweek•January 29, 2018


President Donald Trump’s approval rating may not be reaching dizzying heights, but Americans are more satisfied with the state of the military, the economy and security than they were just one year ago, a new poll has revealed.

Gallup's Mood of the Nation survey on the state of the nation, conducted January 2 to 7 and released Monday, showed 78 percent of people were happy with the nation’s military strength and preparedness compared with just 66 percent at the end of Barack Obama’s tenure in January 2017.

The same poll, which surveyed 1,024 adults, showed 63 percent of respondents were happy with the nation’s security from terrorism compared with just 50 percent at the same time last year, and in addition Americans were also happier with the state of the country’s economy, with 58 percent this year reporting they were satisfied compared with 46 percent in January 2017.

However, the state of the nation poll showed Americans have lower satisfaction in some areas than they had in 2017. Only 45 percent of people were satisfied with the quality of the environment in the nation in 2018, compared with 52 percent in 207.

As for the role the U.S. plays in world affairs, satisfaction has fallen from 45 percent under Obama compared with 38 percent under Trump. By a small margin, Americans are also less satisfied with the acceptance of lesbian and gay people in the nation than they were last year, from 59 to 56 percent.

Several of the areas Americans were polled as being satisfied with are expected to be discussed by the president in his upcoming State of the Union address on Tuesday, The Hill reported.

The uptick in satisfaction with a number of key issues in the U.S. comes as another poll shows the president is particularly unpopular with millennials, who are even less impressed with Trump one year on than they were when he took office.

Has Donald Trump Finally Beaten Barack Obama in a Poll?