President Donald Trump has often given his time in office an A-plus grade, touting the 2017 tax overhaul as one of his greatest achievements. | Alex Edelman/AFP/Getty Images White House Trump blames Mueller probe for low approval rating, calling it 'presidential harassment'

President Donald Trump is blaming special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe for his relatively low approval ratings, adding that he believes it's "presidential harassment."

"Without the phony Russia Witch Hunt, and with all that we have accomplished in the last almost two years (Tax & Regulation Cuts, Judge’s, Military, Vets, etc.) my approval rating would be at 75% rather than the 50% just reported by Rasmussen," Trump tweeted on Thursday. "It’s called Presidential Harassment!"


Rasmussen Reports on Wednesday had the president's approval rating at 50 percent, roughly in line with its findings in recent weeks. The polling outlet's methodology has frequently been questioned by mainstream pollsters, some of whom have accused Rasmussen of being friendlier to Trump and harboring a pro-Republican bias. The president's average approval rating is 43.3 percent, according to Real Clear Politics.

Trump has frequently called out Mueller's probe as a "witch hunt," but he recently submitted written answers to the special counsel. Mueller is investigating whether Trump's campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election, but he has widened the probe to include possible obstruction of justice and other matters.

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The president has often given his time in office an A-plus grade, touting the 2017 tax overhaul as one of his greatest achievements, along with getting a number of conservative federal judges and two Supreme Court justices confirmed.

Trump continued tweeting about the Mueller investigation later Thursday, alleging without evidence that witnesses were being "forced to lie."