Gov. Gavin Newsom has suffered a loss in his approval ratings, a new survey found, as a majority of Californians disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of his presidency.
The Public Policy Institute of California released its June statewide survey, revealing where Californians stand on state officials, the federal government, and key issues.
The survey of 1,591 adults and state residents, conducted from May 22-29, follows heightened fears of economic uncertainty due to ping-ponging tariff policies and has been released amid a rise in protests in California and nationwide over immigration enforcement sweeps.
Among the many takeaways of PPIC’s latest survey is that 70% of Californians disapprove of Trump’s handling of his job, with 29% in approval and 1% who don’t know. It’s just a slight uptick from the nonpartisan nonprofit’s February survey, in which 69% disapproved of Trump’s job performance.
Trump’s approval ratings weren’t too dissimilar to those of the U.S. Congress; 78% disapprove of how Congress is handling its job, with 20% who approve and 3% who don’t know, according to the PPIC survey.
But negative sentiments weren’t solely fixed on Trump or Congress. The survey also found an uptick in Californians who don’t approve of Newsom’s handling of his job as governor, or 54%. That’s seven percentage points up from the February survey.
That said, Newsom’s approval ratings have hovered in the 40% to low 50% range in recent months, according to a graph of PPIC’s survey results, showing that opinions on the governor go slightly up and down.
The California governor has long been the subject of ire from some of his consistiuents and political opponents — and in recent days, he’s been repeatedly criticized by Trump over his handling of protests in Los Angeles as the state and the administration remain locked in a battle over the mobilization of the California National Guard and the Marines.
Is California headed in the wrong direction? Two other takeaways
Respondents appeared to have a less favorable perspective on California’s future, with 60% saying that the state is generally going in the wrong direction. This is up from the 54% who said the state was going in the wrong direction several months ago. However, about a year ago, 62% said the state was going in the wrong direction, so these sentiments aren’t new.
Californians were asked to select the most important problem facing the nation. Among a slew of options such as education, health care, foreign conflicts was one problem that took some lead over the others: 35% selected political extremism or threats to democracy.
Trump polls: See some of the latest approval ratings of the president
Reuters/Ipsos poll: A nationwide poll that surveyed 1,024 U.S. adults from May 16-18 found 42% approved of Trump, a slight dip from the 44% of Americans who approved of Trump a week earlier, Reuters said.
Quinnipiac poll: 38% of voters approve of Trump’s handling of his presidency in a survey of 1,265 self-identified registered voters nationwide from June 5-9, down three percentage points from a poll in April. Meanwhile, 54% disapproved of the president’s handling of his job.
Gallup poll: The latest figures from a poll from May 1-18 show 43% approve of Trump’s handling of his job, while 53% disapprove and 5% have no opinion. The disapproval rating has remained consistent over several periods since March, Gallup’s figures show.
The Economist: 44% approve of Trump, while 51% disapprove and 5% don’t know, according to The Economist’s polling figures, which was last updated on June 10.
Civiqs: As of Thursday, June 12, 43% approve of Trump’s handling of his presidency and 53% disapprove, while 4% selected neither approve nor disapprove, according to Civiqs ongoing approval rating tracker. These figures have largely remained the same for weeks.
Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at pbarraza@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Newsom’s approval rating suffers a slight loss in new California survey. How is Trump doing?
Reporting by Paris Barraza, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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