Originally Posted: January 23, 2018
President Trump marked his first anniversary in office over the weekend, and as he begins his second year in office, there’s a lot more at stake because of the all-important mid-term elections this fall.
The Real Clear Politics average of polls this month shows the president has a 40 percent approval rating, 56 percent disapprove.
SMU Political Science Professor Matthew Wilson says while many people are pleased with the economy, many are also put off by the president’s style. “They think he’s unduly combative. They think he picks fights. They think he spends way too much time on twitter. At the same time, substantively, Americans are fairly happy now with a lot of things, The economy is going exceptionally well. The stock market has really soared. Unemployment is low.”
Professor Wilson says the President has been distracted by the Russia investigation headed by Robert Mueller.
But Wilson says the President has kept his conservative base happy by cutting government regulations, cracking down on illegal immigration and nominating a conservative Supreme Court Justice and other conservative judges.
Looking ahead, there is a potential plus and minus for the president.
Wilson says, “One thing that could really help Donald Trump is if we see real growth in wages and hiring perhaps as a result of the tax cuts. I think one real pitfall for the president will be getting into a protracted fight.”
Join us for a Facebook Live panel discussion on the president’s first year in office on our CBSDFW Facebook page starting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. READ MORE