Hill.TV poll: Trump approval rating at 48 percent

President Trump’s approval rating sits at 48 percent, according to a new American Barometer poll. 

The survey, which is a joint project from Hill.TV and the HarrisX polling company was conducted before Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former fixer Michael Cohen were found guilty and pleaded guilty, respectively, in federal criminal probes.

Twenty-four percent of voters said they “strongly” approved of Trump, while another 24 percent said they “somewhat” approved of him. 

Trump’s approval rating in the latest poll remains unchanged from the last American Barometer poll on his approval, which was conducted last month. 

The president’s disapproval rating also remained unchanged in the new poll, with 52 percent of respondents saying they disapproved of the job he is doing. 

Thirty-six percent of voters said they “strongly” disapproved of Trump, and 16 percent said they “somewhat” disapproved of him. 

The poll also showed Trump’s high approval with Republicans at 86 percent, while only 16 percent of Democrats said they approved of the job he was doing. 

Journalist and political analyst Bill Schneider said Trump’s approval ratings are steady because nonswing voters will not changed their minds about him. He noted that many on each side “have already made up their minds” and won’t have their minds changes by “passing events.”

“What’s keeping the numbers steady, and they have been steady for a long time, is the simple fact that most voters, the vast majority, have already made up their minds,” Schneider told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons on “What America’s Thinking.”

“We are living in a world politically of two armed camps, both of them armed to the teeth, and you don’t see much fluctuation in the polls,” he continued.

“We have Trump die-hard supporters, including most Republicans and you have his die-hard critics and enemies, including most Democrats. Those peoples’ minds are not going to be changed by passing events,” he said. 

The American Barometer survey was conducted on August 20-21 among 1,000 registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

— Julia Manchester