Donald Trump,Steven Mnuchin

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin listens at right as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on the Federal budget, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

(Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump's popularity among American voters has continued to decline in the weeks since he took office with more than half disapproving of his job performance and 58 percent contending he is doing more to divide the nation, according to a new survey.

A Quinnipiac University national poll released this week found that just over a third, or 38 percent, of voters said they approve of how Trump has handled his job as president -- down from 42 percent earlier this month.

By contrast, fifty-five percent of respondents offered negative takes of the president's job performance, up from 51 percent in early February and 44 percent in late January, according to survey results.

Disapproval of Trump's handling of the presidency was highest among Democrats with 91 percent offering a poor opinion of his time in the Oval Office, the poll found. Half of men, 55 percent of independents and 59 percent of women also disapproved of the president's job performance.

Support for Trump's work in the Oval Office, however, remained high among Republicans with 83 percent approving of his handling of the presidency, according to survey results.

Despite his continued popularity among Republicans, voters expressed largely negative views of the president's personal qualities, with 55 precent saying they believe he is not honest and lacks good leadership skills, 53 percent saying he does not care about average Americans and 63 percent saying he is not level-headed.

Nearly six in 10, or 58 percent, further said they believe he is doing more to divide the country and 60 percent offered that he does not share their values, the poll found.

About two-thirds of respondents, or 64 percent, however, said they believe Trump is a strong person and 58 percent said they see him as intelligent.

Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Tim Malloy called the findings "a terrible survey one month in" to the White House.

"President Donald Trump's popularity is sinking like a rock. He gets slammed on honesty, empathy, level-headedness and the ability to unite," he said in a statement. "And two of his strong points, leadership and intelligence, are sinking to new lows."

In addition to his overall job performance, voters disapproved of the president's handling of foreign policy by a 56 to 36 percent margin, terrorism by a 49 to 44 percent margin and immigration issues by a 58 to 40 percent margin, the survey found.

Respondents, by a 61 to 35 percent margin, also said they oppose how Trump talks about the media.

Nine in 10 American voters said they believe it's very or somewhat important that the news media hold public officials accountable, and 52 to 37 percent said they trust journalists more than Trump to tell the truth about important issues -- findings somewhat at odds with an Emerson College poll released earlier this month.

Half of respondents, however, said they disapprove of the way news outlets have covered the president, according to poll results.

"The media, so demonized by the Trump administration, is actually a good deal more popular than President Trump," Malloy said.

The poll, which surveyed more than 1,300 voters nationwide from Feb. 16 to 21, has a margin or error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.