The popularity of President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy surged in recent months, according to CNBC’s All-American Economic Survey.
Fifty-one percent approve of the president’s economic policies, the first time Trump has garnered the approval of a majority of Americans in the CNBC poll. That represents a six percentage point surge since the March survey.
Disapproval fell to just 36 percent, down six points from March.
The poll was taken last week, while the media and the president’s political critics obsessed over Trump’s handling of illegal immigrant children whose parents are held by border authorities. Despite the controversy, Trump’s overall job approval rose two points to 41 percent.
Perhaps even more strikingly, the share of Americans who say they disapprove of Trump fell 10 points to 47 percent, the lowest recorded by CNBC since the president took office.
Trump is clearly benefitting from signs that America’s economy has accelerated. Fifty-four percent say the economy is good or excellent, the highest positive score in the 10 years of the CNBC survey–and 20 points higher since before the election. Just 43 percent say the economy is just fair or poor.
CNBC’s Steve Liesman points out that this is the first time that the share of Americans saying the economy is excellent has surpassed the share saying it is poor.
Trump’s tax cuts and trade policies are his big policy winners. Forty-five percent of Americans say they approve of the administration’s new tariffs, with just 38 percent disapproving. That demonstrates that Trump has been winning over the American people on trade. Back in the March survey, 29 percent supported tariffs, while 35 percent said they had no opinion. Thirty-five percent were opposed.
Trump is tremendously popular with conservatives. Ninety-five percent of conservative Republicans support the president’s economic stewardship, and 85 percent give him a positive rating overall.