Trump approval rating slips amid concerns about moves to expand influence: Survey

President Trump’s approval rating slipped in a Reuters/Ipsos poll that showed concerns with moves by the president to expand his influence.

In the poll, 42 percent said they backed how Trump is doing in his job, 1 point below a Reuters/Ipsos poll from three weeks ago. Right after his inauguration in January, 47 percent said they backed Trump’s job execution.

Eighty-three percent of those polled said they believed the president should follow federal court rulings the president opposes, at a time when Trump is battling the courts over his deportations, including over a mistakenly deported man. Just 13 percent said the opposite.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll also found pushback against a statement that reads "it's okay for a U.S. president to withhold funding from universities if the president doesn’t agree with how the university is run,” with 57 percent disagreeing.

Trump’s administration has also been in a recent clash with Harvard University. The school sued the administration Monday following the federal government canceling billions of dollars in Harvard’s funding. Harvard had previously shot down demands from the administration including to get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and change its admission and hiring practices.

Trump has also forcefully taken over the Kennedy Center, but he may be running against public opinion on that score, too.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll found 66 percent did not think a president should be in control of "premier cultural institutions such as national museums and theaters."

The poll also found a larger number of Americans disagreeing with Trump than agreeing with him on a range of issues. Trump's best issue was immigration, where 45 percent support his policies. But even on this strong issue, more Americans, 46 percent, disapproved of Trump's actions on the issue.

Nearly 60 percent said the U.S. is losing influence on the global stage.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll took place April 16-21, featuring 4,306 people and "about 2 percentage points" as its margin of error.