U.S. President Donald Trump (Xinhua file photo/Mike Theiler)
U.S. President Donald Trump denounced a new poll Sunday that indicates he has a lower approval rating than any of his predecessors at the six-month mark in 70 years.
The ABC News/Washington Post poll, released earlier Sunday, showed only 36 percent of Americans approve Trump's performance in office, marking a six-point drop from 42 percent in April, while his disapproval rating has risen five points since then to 58 percent.
"The ABC/Washington Post Poll, even though almost 40 percent is not bad at his time, was just about the most inaccurate poll around election time!" Trump tweeted to defend himself.
The poll said Trump's job approval is the lowest rating of any of his predecessors after their first six months into U.S. presidency.
Besides, it also showed that 48 percent of the respondents see the U.S. leadership in the world as weaker since Trump's inauguration, with only 27 percent believing it to be stronger. Two thirds said they do not trust Trump to negotiate with other world leaders on the U.S. behalf.
Just 38 percent of those polled said they think Trump is making significant progress toward his goals, while 55 percent think otherwise.
The poll results also came in light of a stalled Republican agenda and unfolding stories about alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Half of those surveyed said they prefer the existing health care system, with only 24 percent favoring a Republican-led legislation, a controversial reform that has been put on hold in Senate due to opposition from within.
The U.S. intelligence community alleged that Russia meddled in the U.S. presidential race last year and connections existed between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, which the Kremlin has denied.
The ABC-Post poll finds about 60 percent of Americans said they believe Russia tried to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, while about 44 percent think Trump benefited from those attempts.
Besides, roughly 4 in 10 Americans said they see Trump's campaign team intentionally helped Russian efforts to influence the election.
When asked about a 2016 meeting Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of Trump, had with a Russian lawyer in a hope to get hands on materials allegedly helpful for his father's campaign, 63 percent considered the meeting as inappropriate.
The poll was conducted between from July 10 to July 13 among a random sample of over 1,000 adults being surveyed over the phone, with a margin error of 3.5 points.
