What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending June 3, 2017

President Trump continues to enact the agenda he promised voters, stunning the Washington, D.C. establishment and a media used to politicians who change their tune once they’re in office.

Late this week, the president announced that the United States is withdrawing from the anti-global warming Paris Climate Agreement, saying the measure is bad for the U.S. economy. President Obama signed the agreement in 2015, but it was largely a symbolic gesture since he never submitted it to the Senate for ratification, knowing it was unlikely to be approved.

Only 30% of voters support Trump’s decision to unilaterally withdraw from the agreement. Sixty percent (60%) think he should submit the Paris treaty to the Senate for an up-or-down vote. 

While voters have long said global warming is a serious problem, most also have been reluctant to spend any of their own money to do anything about it. Only 25% think the scientific debate over global warming is over.

The president recently returned from his first foreign trip where he told our reticent allies in the Middle East and Europe that they need to do more for their own defense, but now an unprecedented number of voters appear to believe the United States should listen to its allies instead.

Trump continues to be the target of a hostile media, fed in large part by leaks and anonymous sources. Most voters still think the leaking of classified information to the media is an act of treason.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) said in February that the leakers should be prosecuted.

Still, the media coverage is taking its toll as the president’s daily job approval rating remains in the low to mid-40s. He earned a monthly job approval rating of 45% in May, down two points from the month before.

Just 37% of voters now think the country is headed in the right direction. A year ago, at this time, though, only 28% felt that way.

Voters saw a brighter future shortly after Trump’s election, but now most once again think the nation's best days have come and gone.

How are Americans reacting to the recent slaughter in Manchester? Are the terrorists winning in England?

Following the latest radical Islamic terrorist mass killing in Europe, 75% of voters here say Islamic religious leaders need to do more to emphasize the peaceful beliefs of their faith.

Despite ongoing historical revisionism and attacks on people and events of the past, most Americans continue to believe they should be proud of this nation’s history.

Four Confederate monuments were removed from New Orleans earlier this month following complaints that they celebrate racism, and now the city of Baltimore plans to follow suit. But most voters oppose taking away remnants of the past even if they are unpopular with some.

Interestingly, 37% of Americans don’t even know when the Civil War took place.

But then most voters continue to give low marks to the public schools and don’t think today’s high school graduates are ready for college or the workforce. Most also have long believed that most school textbooks are more concerned with being politically correct than with accurately providing information. 

In other surveys last week:

-- In the wake of the shakeup at the Fox News channel, the long-time cable news leader has lost fans and fallen behind CNN.

-- More Americans than ever now honor Memorial Day, the federal holiday that recognizes military personnel who have given their lives for our country.

Visit the Rasmussen Reports home page for the latest current polling coverage of events in the news. The page is updated several times each day.

Remember, if it's in the news, it's in our polls.