President Donald Trump got better marks on questions of strength – 62 percent said he is a strong person – and intelligence, which 57 percent of respondents said he possesses. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo Poll: Trump's disapproval lowest in more than a year

Fifty-three percent of respondents to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday said they disapprove of the way President Donald Trump is handling his job as president, the lowest that number has been in more than a year.

Trump’s 40 percent approval rating in the newly released poll is just two points shy of his high-water mark as president — the 42 percent approval rating poll respondents gave him in early February, 2017. The president’s approval rating is up 2 points relative to the previous Quinnipiac poll, released March 7, while his disapproval rating dropped 3 points over that same stretch.


The president’s announcement earlier this month that he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un earned a warm reception from poll respondents, with 66 percent of those polled saying they approve of the meeting and 24 percent saying they disapprove. Respondents were less bullish on Trump’s ability to handle the North Korean situation, with just 46 percent responding that they have confidence in the president’s ability to do so while 51 percent said they did not have confidence in Trump.

Overall, 65 percent of those polled predicted the U.S. will solve its differences with North Korea diplomatically and 16 percent said the U.S. will need to use military force.

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Trump received poor reviews from those polled on other personal questions as well: 56 percent said he does not have good leadership skills, 64 percent said he is not level headed and 53 percent said he does not care about Average Americans. The president got better marks on questions of strength – 62 percent said he is a strong person – and intelligence, which 57 percent of respondents said he possesses.

Fifty percent of those polled said they are embarrassed to have Trump as president, while 30 percent of respondents said he makes them proud. Asked about the media, respondents disapproved by a 59-35 margin of the way it covers Trump. Fifty-eight percent said they disapprove of the way Trump talks about the media, while 38 percent approve of the president’s rhetoric.

With the 2018 midterm elections approaching next fall, 68 percent of respondents said they disapprove of the job Republicans have done in Congress, while 63 percent said the same of Democrats. Forty-nine percent of respondents said they want Democrats to win control of the House of Representatives this November, compared to 43 percent who said the same of Republicans, a six-point margin down from 10 points on the same question in the Quinnipiac poll conducted two weeks ago.

The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted from March 16-20, reaching 1,291 voters nationwide via landlines and cell phones. The poll’s margin of error was plus-or-minus 3.3 points.