Portside

Nearly every modern president has, at one time or another, reached the point at which at least 50 percent of the country disapproved of his job performance as president. For Donald Trump, though, that moment has come earlier than most — much earlier.

While Trump entered office with record-low approval, he now stands at a dismal 42 percent approval, according to a Gallup poll of 1,500 Americans released January 28. The same poll showed that just eight days into his presidency, 51 percent of those surveyed do not approve of Trump’s job in office. Perhaps using his first week to begin construction of a border wall, halt refugee immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries, announce plans to roll back the Affordable Care Act, and reinstate a “global gag rule” around abortion may have had something to do with it.

Trump is the only modern president to reach majority disapproval in such a short period of time. It took hundreds of days for all other presidents to reach 50 percent disapproval, according to Gallup, which has been polling presidential approval since 1945. Some, like Gerald Ford and Dwight Eisenhower, never saw a majority disapprove of their performance.

It’s worth noting that Trump’s majority disapproval rating was calculated before the recent rollout of his refugee immigration ban and the subsequent nationwide protests. All that’s to say if the coming weeks are anything like Trump’s first, his rating might still have a ways to go.