US Politics
Trump’s approval tanks amid Epstein fallout – now less than 30% of independent’s approve
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President Donald Trump’s approval rating has tanked, amid the Jeffrey Epstein files fallout, with less than 30 percent of independents approving of the way the president is handling his job.
A new Gallup poll shows Trump’s overall approval rating at 37 percent. When broken up across political affiliation, 89 percent of Republicans approve of the job the president is doing. For independents, 29 percent approve of the president’s performance and only 2 percent of Democrats approve.
The 37 percent approval rating is the lowest of Trump’s second term and mere points away from his all-time worst rating of 34 percent at the end of his first term.
When it comes to specific issues, just 38 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of immigration, and 37 percent approve of his handling of the economy, two major issues of the president’s campaign.
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The poll was taken between July 7 and 21, after Trump signed his “big, beautiful bill,” which extended his 2017 tax cuts and increased border security funding while cutting welfare programs such as Medicaid and SNAP.
Trump’s victory lap on the legislation came to a crashing halt after the Justice Department and FBI came out with a memo stating there was no client list from Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who died in jail in 2019.
The White House has faced backlash, notably from its own base, after Trump had promised to release the files, and then the feds effectively said the matter was closed.
Trump had asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to “produce any and all pertinent” grand jury testimony from Epstein’s case, “subject to Court approval,” citing the “ridiculous amount of publicity” over the case. But the court denied that request.
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The president’s past relationship with Epstein has also been at the center of controversy.
The Wall Street Journal reported Trump had been told in May by Attorney General Pam Bondi that his name appeared in the Epstein Files “multiple times”. The president denied such claims to reporters earlier this month.
Appearing in the files does not indicate an individual has committed any wrongdoing and Trump has not been accused of misconduct in connection with the Epstein case.
While respondents in the Gallup poll were not asked about the Epstein drama, a poll conducted by The Economist and YouGov from July 11 to 14 found 67 percent of Americans believe the government is hiding evidence related to the sex offender.
When asked if the government should release all documents relating to the feds’ Epstein case, 79 percent of respondents said it should.
