Trump enters White House with lowest presidential approval rating in decades

WASHINGTON, Jan 17 (KUNA) -- Donald Trump will enter the White House Friday with an approval rating of just 40 percent, the lowest of any recent president, according to two new polls -- CNN/ORC and ABC News/Washington Post.
Approval ratings for Trump's handling of the presidential transition are more than 20 points below those of presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Obama took office in 2009 with an 84 percent approval rating; 61 percent approved of Bush's transition just before he took office in 2001; and 67 percent approved of Clinton's transition as of late December 1992.
According to the CNN/ORC poll, about 53 percent said Trump's statements and actions since the November 8 election have made them less confident in his ability to handle the presidency, and those surveyed split evenly -- 48 percent on each side -- on whether Trump will be a good or poor president.
Trump responded on Twitter, saying, "The same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls. They are rigged just like before." The ABC News/Washington Post poll found that six in 10 Americans expected Trump to do an excellent or good job on the economy and on jobs, and 56 percent expected him to do well in handling terrorism. However, the same poll found that 61 percent of Americans lack confidence in him to make the right decisions for the future of the US.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people are expected to crowd the streets of Washington during the 45th president's inaugural week this week, with some marching in support of Trump and others arriving to protest him and his administration.
The National Park Service has provided 22 permits for demonstrations that will take place over inauguration week on park service land that includes the National Mall and the White House. Each protest ranges in size from 50 people to 200,000.
The District of Columbia Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said it expects 800,000 to 900,000 people to attend events in the city on Inauguration Day.
In another sign of dissatisfaction with Trump, at least 38 Democratic members of Congress have announced they will skip the Republican's inauguration altogether. (end) rm.bs