Poll: Americans trust congressional Democrats more than Trump on border security

William Cummings | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Donald Trump: I'll declare emergency if no deal on wall President Donald Trump says he will declare a national emergency to build his U.S.-Mexico border wall if there is no deal with Congress by mid-February. (Jan. 25)

More Americans say they trust congressional Democrats more than President Donald Trump on a subject at the heart of his political identity: border security.

When asked who they trust more on the issue, 50 percent of Americans said Democrats in Congress, compared with 41 percent who picked Trump, according to a poll published Tuesday by Quinnipiac University.

As might be expected, the respondents were largely split along party lines, with 91 percent of Democrats picking Democrats and 87 percent of Republicans going with Trump. But more troubling for the White House: 50 percent of independents said they trusted Democrats more than Trump on border security, while only 37 percent picked the president.

The poll was conducted from Jan. 25-28. A total of 1,004 voters were surveyed nationwide with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percent.

In addition, 59 percent of Americans disapproved of Trump's handling of immigration, 75 percent said immigration is a good thing for the U.S., 61 percent would be OK with a funding bill that did not include money for a southern border wall, 64 percent don't believe a wall would reduce violent crime and 68 percent are against using a government shutdown to get the money for the wall.

Trump's refusal to approve any funding legislation that did not include $5.7 billion for a border wall – or physical barrier, as Trump has started to call it – led to a 35-day partial government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history. He has said he is willing to shut down the government again if legislators don't reach a compromise that includes money for the wall.

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Trump has also threatened to declare a national emergency in response to the "border crisis" in order to get the military funding for a wall. Two-thirds of those said they were against Trump taking that action.

When asked, "Who do you trust more to handle issues that are important to you?" 49 percent picked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., while 42 percent picked Trump.

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – one; President Donald Trump – zero. The first round of many to come in the heavyweight bout goes the Speaker's way as Trump takes the hit for the shutdown and his party is suffering along with him," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Most Americans also did not see eye-to-eye with the president on his decision to keep transgender people from serving in the military. Seventy percent of the respondents said transgender individuals should be allowed to serve, while only 22 percent said they should not.

On the economy, which is regularly touted by the administration as the greatest of Trump's achievements, 51 percent said they disapproved of Trump's performance, compared with 46 percent who approved.

Overall, 38 percent said they approved of Trump's job performance, while 58 percent said they disapproved. And a whopping 77 percent said they were either "dissatisfied" or "angry" when asked how they feel about how the federal government is working.

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