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Trump disapproval hits 64 percent in AP poll (The Hilllink): Nearly two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the job President Trump is doing in the White House, according to an Associated Press/NORC poll released Thursday.
Sixty-four percent of respondents in the survey said that they don't like how the president is handling his office, while just over a third, 35 percent, approve of Trump.
The poll also found that 65 percent of Americans believe Trump has little or no respect for the country's democratic institutions and traditions. Only about 34 percent said they believe he has a great deal or even a fair amount of respect for such institutions.
While that sentiment appeared most common among Democrats and independents — 9 in 10 and 6 in 10, respectively — a third of Republican voters said Trump had little or no respect for democratic institutions in America.
While the president entered the White House with relative unpopularity, the AP noted, his dwindling approval numbers and perceived disrespect for the country's institutions show mounting challenges for Trump as he seeks to cast himself as a unifying figure.
Trump also faces disapproval in some key policy areas. Sixty-six percent of Americans said they disapprove of Trump's handling of healthcare. That comes two months after House Republicans passed a measure to repeal and replace parts of the Affordable Care Act. The Senate is hammering out its own healthcare bill.
Nearly as many Americans, 64 percent, disapprove of Trump's climate change policies. The president announced earlier this month that he would withdraw the U.S. from the 195-nation Paris climate deal and has made a concerted push to undo Obama-era environmental regulations.
The poll surveyed 1,068 Americans from June 8 to 11, and respondents were interviewed either by phone or online. The survey's margin of error is 4.1 percentage points.
Special counsel is investigating Trump for possible obstruction of justice, officials say (The Washington Postlink): The special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election is interviewing senior intelligence officials as part of a widening probe that now includes an examination of whether President Trump attempted to obstruct justice, officials said.
The move by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to investigate Trump’s conduct marks a major turning point in the nearly year-old FBI investigation, which until recently focused on Russian meddling during the presidential campaign and on whether there was any coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
Investigators have also been looking for any evidence of possible financial crimes among Trump associates, officials said.
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