A recent AP-NORC poll reveals that a greater number of adults in the United States support President Donald Trump’s handling of the conflict in Israel, following his role in brokering a ceasefire deal in Gaza. However, despite this apparent success on the international stage, Trump’s approval ratings on domestic issues remain low.
The survey, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research from October 9-13, found that around 4 in 10 US adults approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president overall, a figure that remains unchanged from September. This suggests that while Trump’s international efforts may be gaining traction, they have not yet translated into improved domestic approval.
Some of Trump’s supporters have expressed the need for him to focus on addressing domestic issues, such as the economy, healthcare, and immigration. Justin Sanders, a 31-year-old Republican from Birmingham, Alabama, who voted for Trump twice, noted that “it’s kind of cool he’s bringing peace, but I’m like, ‘You kind of need to worry about your American people instead of bringing peace to the world first.'”
The poll was conducted before the release of hostages and prisoners in Israel, but after the Gaza ceasefire was announced. The ceasefire has held, albeit with major questions remaining about the US plan for the region and the sustainability of the peace. Meanwhile, Trump faces significant challenges at home, including a government shutdown that has entered its third week, high prices, and healthcare cuts that have impacted millions of Americans.
The AP-NORC poll surveyed 1,289 adults, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. As the situation in Israel and the US continues to unfold, it remains to be seen whether Trump’s international efforts will have a lasting impact on his domestic approval ratings.
