David M Jackson

USA TODAY

Those new polls giving Donald Trump low approval ratings?

They're rigged, too, says the president-elect.

"The same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls," Trump tweeted early Tuesday. "They are rigged just like before."

In the latest survey, only 40% of respondents in a Washington Post/ABC News poll approve of the way Trump has handled the post-election transition, making him the least popular incoming president of the last seven chief executives.

His transition has featured frequent clashes with intelligence agencies, political opponents and reporters, particularly over evidence that the Russians interfered in the election by hacking emails from Democrats close to Hillary Clinton.

Many pre-election surveys forecast a Clinton victory, but Trump took enough states to win the Electoral College; Clinton won nearly 2.9 million more popular votes.

The recent approval surveys are largely divided along party lines. In general, Republicans support Trump while large numbers of Democrats oppose him even before he takes office.

Stay with USA TODAY for full coverage of the 2017 inauguration.