TRENTON — As Donald Trump begins his presidency, a new poll shows a majority of New Jerseys disapprove of the Republican’s Cabinet choices, believe he will make America less safe, and have more faith in the country’s intelligence community than him.
Thursday’s Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind Poll, taken during the first week of Trump’s first term, found that only 37 percent of Garden State adults approve of the job he has done, while 50 percent disapprove.
Comparatively, his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, held a 72 percent approval rating in the state shortly after being sworn into office, according to the survey.
So who does N.J. dislike more, Trump or Christie?
“President Trump begins his White House journey by facing an uphill battle with residents in the Garden State,” said Krista Jenkins, the poll’s director and a political science professor at FDU. “The usual goodwill that extends to new administrations is missing when it comes to the 45th president.”
Still, the numbers aren’t surprising: New Jersey is a heavily Democratic state that a Republican presidential candidate hasn’t won since 1988.
Though he once owned multiple Atlantic City casinos and still owns three private golf courses in the state, Trump lost New Jersey in November’s election. Democrat Hillary Clinton won the state by 14 percentages points, 55 to 41 percent.
Here’s a breakdown of the survey’s results:
* 45 percent of men approve of Trump, compared to 30 percent of women.
* 46 percent of white people approve of Trump, compared to 21 percent of non-whites.
* Trump’s controversial executive order that temporarily bans immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries does not appear to have affected his standing in the state. His approval rating was 38 percent in the days before the order and 37 percent after.
* 54 percent disapprove of his Cabinet picks, while 36 percent approve.
* 53 percent believe Trump’s inexperience on foreign policy will made the U.S. more vulnerable, while 44 percent disagree. But 45 percent of men, 52 percent of whites, and 85 percent of Republicans believe Trump can ensure the safety of Americans.
* 57 percent believe he needs to do more to distance himself from his private business holdings, while 34 percent say the steps he has taken are adequate.
* 47 percent believe Trump will always put America’s interests first, while 50 percent say Trump will come first when they are in conflict.
“In addition to beginning his administration with an upside down approval rating, President Trump is also struggling with questions of trust,” Jenkins said. “Many in the state are unconvinced in his ability to keep us safe and make the right call when U.S. interests are at stake.”
* 54 percent say they believe all or most of what U.S. intelligence agencies — including the FBI and CIA — share with the U.S., while 25 percent say they trust the president, 23 percent say they trust television news, and 22 percent say they trust print news.
Meanwhile, 29 percent say they believe nothing the president says, compared to 10 percent for TV news, 9 percent for print news, and 7 percent for the intelligence community.
Those revelations come after the U.S. intelligence community said Russia interfered in the election to help Trump win — a discovery the president has disputed.
* 7 percent of Jersey adults say they attended the Women’s March on Washington, held the day after Trump was inaugurated last month. Another 43 percent say they know someone who attended the protest. In addition, one-in-10 women attended, and 56 of all Jersey adults who attended joined a protest for the first time.
The poll was conducted via phone with 921 adults in New Jersey via landline and cellular telephones. The margin of error was plus-or-minus 3.6 percent points.
Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
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