According to a daily poll from Rasmussen Reports, 51 percent of likely US voters approve of what Trump has been doing, while 49 percent disapprove.
Additionally, 45 percent of those surveyed believe that the country is heading in the right direction. “This is the sixth week in a row that this finding has been in the mid-40s after running in the mid- to upper 20s for much of 2016,” Rasmussen noted.
A slim majority, 53 percent, of those surveyed believed that Trump set the right tone in his speech, while 33 percent disagreed, and 14 percent remain undecided. When looking at political parties, 82 percent of Republicans approved of the speech, while only 31 percent of Democrats felt the same.
Many of Trump’s policies, particularly those covering immigration, have been deeply-divisive partisan issues.
Supporters of the President believe that protecting the nation’s borders and extreme vetting is the proper job of the US government. An overwhelming majority support his executive orders on the issue and his plans to construct a wall along the southern border.
Trump’s opponents believe that the nation has a responsibility to worry less about security and more about compassion, often citing the quote on the Statue of Liberty that states: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
There has also been an extreme hostility between the two parties, when it comes to the legacy of the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act.
Many Republicans want the healthcare act to be immediately repealed and replaced, while Democrats claim that changes will leave many without health care.
With politicians reluctant to reach across party lines to unite the nation, it seems as though the country will remain divided for the foreseeable future.
