How Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Has Changed Since RNC Convention - Newsweek

President Donald Trump’s standing among voters has edged up after his party staged its first-ever midterm convention, though Republicans remain on shaky electoral ground only weeks out from this year’s elections.

According to recent polling from Rasmussen and Ipsos, the president has seen a slight bump in approval since making an appearance and touting what the White House called his “commonsense agenda of lower taxes, safer streets, and secure borders.”

“President Trump is the ultimate turnout driver for the MAGA base, and last week’s historic, sold-out crowd proved it,” White House Spokeswoman Allison Schuster told Newsweek.

During the event, Trump asked supporters to pretend as though “I’m on the ballot” when heading to the polls, and had the crowd join in a fake Pledge of Allegiance “to the greatest president in the history of the United States,” and swear to “cheat like hell like [Democrats] do” come November.

Three major pollsters have released nationally representative surveys after the convention, which reveal a slight lift in Trump’s popularity in recent days, albeit from the lowest levels of his political career.

A Reuters/Ipsos survey fielded September 11 to 14 among 1,143 U.S. adults found that the president has recovered from an all-time low of 33 percent in late August, with now 35 percent of Americans approving of his performance in the White House.

Some 62 percent still disapprove, however, and 63 percent—including four out of 10 Republicans and nine out of 10 Democrats—considered Trump’s offer of a $5,000 dividend in exchange for a Republican victory “inappropriate.”

Trump’s job approval in Rasmussen polling, meanwhile, finds that 45 percent of likely voters now approve of Trump’s performance as president, with 54 percent disapproving. This marks an improvement from 42 percent approval the day the convention began.

The rolling survey of 1,500 likely voters shows that 23 percent strongly approve while 46 percent strongly disapprove of Trump, balancing out to a net negative rating of -23.

And a daily average of polls collated by the New York Times shows that his current approval-disapproval split of 39 percent to 58 percent as of Tuesday marks an improvement from the recent trough of 37 percent and 59 percent in mid-August.

Dubbed “Trumpalooza,” the September 9 and 10 event was held in Dallas and marked the first midterm convention held by the GOP.

Intended to drum up support for the party—currently trailing Democrats for both the House and Senate, per election forecasts by RacetotheWH—the event featured a number of surprises, including televised remarks from the Democratic Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman—currently grappling with allegations that he neglects key congressional duties—and a promise from Trump to send $5,000 to every American if Republicans win both chambers.

"Because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000," Trump said during his speech on Wednesday. "Very much like a successful company will do a cash distribution to its shareholders."

While the president later promised this would happen “100 percent,” administration officials have attached caveats to the pledge, and lawmakers from both parties have questioned the feasibility and merits of the trillion-dollar proposal.

The president called the convention a “sold-out hit” and bragged that the “overall numbers beat the NFL,” though images taken at the event and Nielsen ratings appear to contradict both claims.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Gray R. Thomas