Most Americans pessimistic about Trump presidency: Poll

A new poll shows that a majority of Americans are either uncertain or pessimistic about the presidency of Donald Trump, as the president-elect prepares to be sworn in as the country’s commander-in-chief next month.

Some 54 percent of adults say that they are either “uncertain” or “pessimistic and worried” about how Trump will perform during his presidency, the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found.

Just 22 percent had an “optimistic and confident” view about Trump’s presidency, while only 23 percent had a “satisfied and hopeful” view, the survey found.

That’s a significantly worse outlook than Americans expressed after the presidential elections of both Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

The figures show the extent to which the country remains unusually divided even though Election Day has passed, said Democratic pollster Fred Yang of Hart Research Associates.

“Usually elections settle arguments and the nation comes together, at least in the short term,” Yang said. “Today, hard feelings persist on both sides of the partisan divide. It’s as if the 2016 campaign has never ended.”

While Trump’s overall favorability has improved slightly since the November 8 election, he remains underwater.

More Americans give him a poor rating (46 percent) than a positive one (40 percent), marking the first time that an incoming president has been viewed more negatively than positively in the history of the NBC/WSJ poll.

The public is also largely apprehensive about Trump’s temperament. Only 36 percent of Americans say they are optimistic that Trump has the right temperament to be president, while 44 percent say they are concerned about the issue.

The poll also found that 54 percent of adults were concerned “a great deal’’ or “quite a bit” by recent reports from US intelligence agencies that hackers connected to the Russian government tried to influence the presidential election.

The CIA concluded earlier this month that individuals working for Moscow provided thousands of hacked emails from Democratic organizations and officials to WikiLeaks.

The hacked emails were a regular source of embarrassment to Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton during the presidential race and may have contributed to her defeat.