POLLS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Sixty percent of those polled in a new survey disapprove of President Donald Trump’s job performance, a new high for the president in polling conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News. The poll, released Friday [8-31-18] and conducted just days after special counsel Robert Mueller delivered a one-two punch to the Trump administration in federal court, found a little more than one-third of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance. The poll was conducted last week, when former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on tax and bank fraud charges and Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts, including campaign-finance violations, in a Manhattan courtroom. Trump’s approval rating, according to the poll, was 36 percent. In the previous Washington Post-ABC News poll, conducted in April, Trump’s approval rating was 40 percent and his disapproval rating was 56 percent. The poll found most Americans would oppose Trump granting a pardon to former associate Manafort — 66 percent of respondents said they were against a pardon. Only 18 percent said they would support a pardon.”
–Stephanie Murray, “Poll: Trump disapproval rating up to 60 percent,” Politico, August 31, 2018 8:41 am