Poll finds fighting crime to be Trump’s most favorable issue

President Donald Trump’s handling of crime has found the most favor among Americans, who largely continue to have mixed feelings about his approach to the economy, foreign policy, and involvement with other countries, RealClearPolling reported.

RealClearPolling discovered that 47.9% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of crime and 48.1% disapprove. The -0.2 spread creates the closest gap between the two opinions out of any of the seven issues — the economy, foreign policy, immigration, inflation, crime, Russia/Ukraine, and Israel/Hamas — that Americans were polled on.

The poll was conducted between Aug. 18 and Sept. 15. Trump signed an executive order deploying the National Guard to Memphis, Tennessee, Sept. 15, hoping to combat the city’s high crime rates.

As Zeale previously reported, an August Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll also found that Americans are likely to support Trump’s approach to crime. At the time, 54% of Americans approved of his decision to deploy the National Guard in Washington, D.C.

RealClearPolling found that after crime, Americans were most likely to support Trump’s handling of immigration, with 47.8% approving and 48.8% disapproving. His approach to foreign policy received more disparate ratings, with a -9.5 gap. Americans gave even less support to the other issues: the divide over Trump’s handling of Israel/Hamas stood at -13.4; differing views on the economy measured at -13.9; and opinions on Russia/Ukraine had a difference of -15.4. Most Americans did not support Trump’s handling of inflation, with a gap of -20.1.

Trump’s overall job approval reached a -5.1 gap on Sept. 17, down 1 percentage point from earlier this month, consistent with the ratings he generally received in August. Currently, 46.2% approve of his job performance and 51.3% disapprove. His approval ratings are higher than those he received in September 2017, his first time in office, when 39.9% approved of him and 55.1% did not.