According to the latest Harvard-Harris poll, 42 percent of Americans are in approval of the job President Trump is doing and 58 percent say that they disapprove. While the percentage of those enlisted in the military who have an unfavorable opinion of the President's first nine months in office (as a whole) would be at odds with those numbers, officers among the ranks show a particularly low approval rating for the President, according to a poll taken by the Military Times.
A report published by the popular military publication revealed this week that while 44 percent of all troops give Trump a thumbs up and 40 percent give him a thumbs down thus far, an isolated snapshot of how officers polled shows a 30 percent approving while 53 percent of the officers questioned disapprove. Thus, there appears to be a stark disconnect in how those at the top and those at the bottom of the chain of command view the President.
“Enlisted people like a man who says what he means and would like to see the job done, no frills, no questions asked. From the way President Trump has presented himself, he has been that kind of person,” the MT reports one intelligence officer stating as his explanation for why the enlisted polled so favorably for the firebrand Commander-In-Chief.
A Navy lieutenant who was cited in the article gave the countering reason for why the opinion of officers may differ, telling the MT that the administration “seems extremely reactionary, verging on whimsical, when it comes to matters of international politics." He went on to add that Trump's repeal of Obama era policies that once served to settle political battles in the institution have caused "so much upheaval, stress, and wasted resources, and has a real impact on morale at the deckplate level.”
Not surprisingly, women and people of color also polled unfavorably for the President, with only 32 percent of women approving of the administration's work and 37 percent of non-White servicemembers liking the job the office has done.
Source: militarytimes.com
