Two-thirds (66 percent) of Republicans give President Trump high marks for how he handled Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last week, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Although 50 percent of Americans overall disagree with Trump’s handling of Putin in Helsinki, 33 percent approve and 18 percent have no opinion at all on the matter.
Americans give Trump negative marks for Helsinki performance with Putin, poll finds. But it’s unlikely to change most people’s assessment of his presidency. https://t.co/AxenhY4Lk8 pic.twitter.com/gt1p9ftqJf
— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) July 22, 2018
The Post admitted in the report on its poll that those opinions aren’t moving the needle on Trump’s overall approval.
The findings indicate that while Trump was judged critically for his summit performance, the event has not at this time proved to be a significant turning point in his presidency, despite the sharp criticism he received in the hours and days after the meeting and the multiple efforts by White House officials and the president to clarify his remarks in Helsinki. The poll results suggest that overall attitudes toward the president have hardened on both sides and that major events like Helsinki produce only modest changes in his overall standing, if any.
Authors Scott Clement and Dan Balz added that “public reaction nationally appears more muted than in Washington where Trump faced withering bipartisan criticism for appearing to side with Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies at a Monday news conference in Helsinki.”
Further, a majority of Americans do not agree with the contention that Trump went “too far” in supporting the Russian president. While 40 percent did think the president went “too far” in supporting Putin, 35 percent considered his take “about right” and 15 percent think he didn’t go far enough. (RELATED: ‘This Is Stupid Stuff’ — Lou Dobbs Owns Trump Critics Of Putin Summit With A Dose Of Common Sense)
A question about whether America’s leadership has gotten weaker or stronger under Trump actually improved from the last poll by 10 percentage points.
The nationwide poll of 464 random adults was conducted from July 18-20 using both cellphones and landlines, and has a margin of error if 5.5 points, according to the Post.