U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at the Elysees Palace in Paris, France, on July 13, 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Paris on Thursday morning in a diplomatic move to soften divergence with France over climate change and trade liberalization by seeking common ground on security and fight against terrorism. (Xinhua File Photo/Chen Yichen)
WASHINGTON, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A new poll showed Sunday the approval rating for U.S. President Donald Trump, who approaches six months in office, sits at 36 percent after a steady decline since springtime, lower than that of any of his predecessors in 70 years.
Results of the poll, carried out by U.S. Broadcaster ABC News and newspaper Washington Post, come amid a wider perceptions of a decline in U.S. global influence, a much-delayed Republican agenda, and unfolding stories about alleged Russia's links to the 2016 Trump campaign.
The fresh poll indicated the overall approval rating for Trump has dropped to 36 percent from 42 percent since April, the lowest for any president in polling history since Harry Truman at the six-month mark.
Figures showed that the last U.S. president as unpopular at the same mark was Gerald Ford, with a 39 percent of approval rating in February, 1975.
Of those surveyed, 58 percent expressed disapproval of Trump's job performance, among which 48 percent said they "disapprove strongly."
The poll also showed that 48 percent of the respondents see the U.S. leadership in the world as weaker since Trump was inaugurated in January, with only 27 percent believing it to be stronger. Two thirds said they do not trust Trump to negotiate with other world leaders on the U.S. behalf.
Just 28 percent of those polled said they think Trump is making significant progress toward his goals, while 55 percent think otherwise.
The U.S. intelligence community alleged that Russia meddled in the U.S. presidential race last year and connections existed between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, which the Kremlin has denied.
The ABC-Post poll finds a majority, about 60 percent, of Americans said they believe Russia tried to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, while about 44 percent think Trump benefited from those attempts.
Besides, roughly 4 in 10 Americans said they see Trump's campaign team intentionally helped Russian efforts to influence the election.
When asked about a 2016 meeting Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of Trump, had with a Russian lawyer in a hope to get hands on materials allegedly helpful for his father's campaign, 63 percent considered the meeting as inappropriate.
On a health care bill supported by Republicans in a bid to overhaul the country's existing system, half of those surveyed said they prefer the current one, and only 24 percent favored the Trump-proposed legislation.
The poll was conducted between from July 10 to July 13 among a random sample of over 1,000 adults being surveyed over the phone, with a margin error of 3.5 points.
