Donald Trump is not a popular politician — and has no intention of becoming one.
The president’s net approval rating has been negative for the entirety of his time in office; for most of that period, it’s been in the negative double digits. Faced with such numbers, most incumbents would scramble to execute some drastic rebranding. But Trump has taken a more stoic posture. To the extent that the president’s actions are shaped by a premeditated, strategic logic (rather than merely by whatever programming decisions Fox News segment producers happened to make on a particular day), that logic presumes he will never endear himself to a majority of Americans. Thus, Trump has declined to soften his rhetoric, meaningfully triangulate on salient issues of public policy, or delete his Twitter account. CONT.
Eric Levitz, New York Magazine
Recent polls: Presidential preference