Donald Trump’s six-month approval rating lowest of any US president in 70 years

SIX MONTHS into his presidency, Donald Trump is officially the least popular US leader of the past 70 years, according to a new poll.

The poll shows Trump's approval at the lowest of any president in the past 70 years in their first six months. His disapproval rating is also the highest.

SIX MONTHS into his presidency, Donald Trump is officially the least popular US leader of the past 70 years, according to a new poll.

A Gallup poll conducted at the six-month mark of all presidents since Harry S Truman has found Trump has just a 36 per cent approval rating, down six points on a similar poll conducted at his first 100 days.

Previously, the least popular president at the same mark was 1970s leader Gerald Ford, with 39 per cent.

The poll shows Trump's approval at the lowest of any president in the past 70 years in their first six months. His disapproval rating is also the highest.

By comparison, President John F Kennedy had a 75 per cent approval rating within the first six months and post-war leader Truman had 82 per cent.

However, Trump has also smashed the previous record for disapproval within the first six months.

Of those polled, 58 per cent disapproved of him, well up on the previous disapproval record of 51 per cent held by Bill Clinton since 1993.

Historically, it has usually taken American presidents months, if not years, to reach a majority disapproval rating.

Trump pictured with French President Emmanuel Macron, First Lady Melania Trump, right, and Brigitte Macron, left. Many poll respondents don’t trust his ability as a world leader. Picture: Christophe Archambault.

But after just six months, his job approval rating is four points lower than his predecessor Barack Obama’s all time low, which came in his sixth year.

Nearly half of all respondents, 48 per cent “strongly” disapprove of Trump’s performance in the top job, slightly higher than the strongest disapproval of Obama’s eight years, which came in his fifth year.

The poll was commissioned by US broadcaster ABC News and newspaper Washington Post.

According to the ABC, Trump’s ties with Russia rate among the chief reasons given for the lack of approval.

But the US presence on the world stage under his leadership also rates highly.

Two-thirds of respondents say they do not trust him to negotiate with world leaders, and nearly half said US world leadership had become weaker since he assumed the presidency.

Faith in Trump's ability as a world leader is particularly low.

His management of the economy proved where he polled the strongest, with 43 per cent approving of his economic management and 41 per cent disapproving.

Trump’s presidency has been plagued by controversy, including accusations of Russian interference in last year’s election, his continual attacks on the media and the judiciary, and his failure to push through healthcare reform.

The revelation that his son, Donald Jr, met with a Russian lawyer to discuss potentially damaging information about Hillary Clinton came a month after it emerged that the President is being investigated for possible obstruction of justice.

The sacking of FBI director James Comey, apparently over the federal bureau’s investigation into the Trump camp’s pre-election links with Russia, accelerated the decline in his approval rating decline.

Trump has spent the past two days watching the US Women's Golf Open at New Jersey’s Trump National Golf Club. Picture: Getty Images

The prospect of impeachment has already become potentially real.

Late last week, a US congressman filed an article of impeachment against Trump in a long-shot bid to remove him from office.

House Democrat Brad Sherman accused Trump of obstructing investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, in part by firing former Comey.

The president has labelled the scandal a “witch hunt”, claiming Russian President Vladimir Putin would have preferred Hillary Clinton in the White House.

The ABC will release more findings of the poll on Monday morning, including his weak personal ratings.

The poll was conducted by landline and mobile phone from July 10 to 13 in both English and Spanish among a random sample of 1,001 adults with a margin of error of 3.5 points.