Pope Leo XIV says he has no intention of debating President Trump
President Donald Trump has clashed with Pope Leo XIV in recent weeks in an unusual and increasingly public dispute.
President Donald Trump’s approval rating remains at its lowest level since returning to the White House, as the country faces the possibility of an escalation of the war with Iran, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll.
A poll released on April 21 showed that 36% of Americans approve of President Trump’s job performance. Voters gave the president similar ratings in a Reuters poll released March 23. However, the president’s approval rating for taking office is still 4 points lower than in a Reuters poll conducted early last month, with many Americans continuing to cite rising food and gas prices as a reason for their disapproval.
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll of 4,557 Americans is in line with similar polls showing President Trump’s approval rating hovering around 40% as the Iran war approaches two months. A new poll shows 36% of Americans support war, slightly higher than the 35% in a previous Reuters poll released earlier this month.
New poll casts doubt on President Trump’s temperament
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll asked about the 79-year-old president’s temperament and mental sharpness amid a barrage of profane social media posts, including threats against Iran that “the entire civilization will perish” and clashes with Pope Leo XIV.
In the poll, 71% of respondents said President Trump was not “calm,” but 26% said they thought he would be calm during his term in office.
But Republican voters were even more divided on this question. About 53% of Republicans surveyed think President Trump is calm, while 46% of Republicans say he is not. A small number of respondents declined to answer that question, the pollster said.
Meanwhile, about 92% of Democratic voters surveyed said President Trump is not calm, compared to 7% of Democrats who said they view Trump that way.
The poll also found that nearly three-quarters of independent voters say President Trump is not calm, compared to 18% who disagree.
Surveys show that Americans think more highly of Pope Leo than of the president. About 60% have a favorable view of the Pope, compared to 36% of Trump.
But the Chicago-born pope is not just better than the president. Respondents also viewed the Pope more favorably than other prominent Democrats, including Trump’s rivals, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Opinion polls show that Americans differ in their president’s mental sharpness
The poll also found that about 51% of Americans think President Trump’s mental sharpness has worsened, while 40% think it has remained the same. Another 6% said the president’s mental sharpness has improved.
By political party, about 14% of Republicans, 85% of Democrats, and 54% of independents believe that President Trump’s mental strength has deteriorated. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans say the president’s mental sharpness remains the same, compared to 12% of Democrats and 35% of independents.
About 13% of Republicans, 2% of Democrats and 4% of independents think his mental health has improved.
The poll was conducted from April 15th to 20th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
