Donald Trump's presidential approval ratings plunge to new low

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Politics, like the world of pop music, can be a fickle business.

One moment, you’re soaring. The next you are in steep descent. Sometimes it can be hard to understand why.

But for Donald Trump, two weeks into his presidency, things appear to be going only from bad to worse. A new poll suggests that the New York tycoon, who assumed the presidency with the low approval rating in modern political history, has now plumbed a new low.

The tracking poll by Gallup, shows that 53 per cent of respondents disapproved of Mr Trump’s performance in office, while only 42 per cent approved. On January 22, two days after his inauguration, respondents were split 45-45 per cent, the polling company said.

Mr Trump’s net approval rating in the poll dropped 8 points during his first week in office, though the gap between approval and disapproval has never been higher for Mr Trump than what the poll currently reflects - spread of 12 points.

Gallup tracks the percentage of Americans who approve and disapprove of the president’s performance in office every day, based on telephone interviews with approximately 1,500 national adults, according to the company. The poll’s margin of error is three percentage points.

Gallup, which has tracked the job approval of every president since Dwight D Eisenhower, found Mr Trump’s disapproval rating was now at 53 per cent.

By comparison, former President Barack Obama's approval rating during his second week in office was 65 per cent, while George W Bush enjoyed a rating in the mid to high fifties in early 2001.

Reports suggest that Mr Trump’s poor numbers may be the result of a sometimes confusing two weeks in which a number of his Executive Orders were rolled out chaotically.

Gallup said almost 50 per cent of people feel Mr Trump is moving too fast in addressing the major problems facing the country, with 35 percent saying his pace is about right. Only 10 per cent said they felt he should be moving more quickly.

Mr Obama signed 19 executive orders over the course of his first 12 days in office, one more than Mr Trump. However, according to Gallup, only 22 per cent of Americans felt Mr Obama was moving too quickly in 2009.