President Trump's job approval ratings had been rising for more than six months until last week. His rapid decline from 44.6 percent to 42.2 percent in the Real Clear Politics average cannot be explained by bad economic news or a foreign policy reverse. Quite the contrary: unemployment hit an 18-year low in figures released on June 1 and the summit with North Korea was re-started on the same day.
His ratings probably dropped, therefore, because of two pieces of news that broke June 3-4: Trump's decision to disinvite the Philadelphia Eagles from a White House ceremony honoring their Super Bowl victory and his assertion that he had the power to pardon himself. This disconnect between public policy successes and Trump's personal behavior points to the continuing political challenge he faces: how simultaneously to rally his ardent backers while drawing in others currently on the fence.
Read Full Article »