Trump to start off as least popular incoming U.S. president

"(Donald) Trump said in his victory speech that Now it is time for America to bind the wounds of division.' His time since then shows little evidence of binding, and he's opened up new wounds along the way," U.S. political journal Politico said of the incoming U.S. president on Monday.

"Donald Trump has done more since being elected to court Vladimir Putin than the 74 million Americans who voted for other presidential candidates—or the tens of millions who didn't vote at all," the journal said, attributing his low popularity just before his inauguration to the lack of his efforts for integration and reconciliation toward his opponents or the politically indifferent.

According to the Washington Post/ABC News surveys, released on Tuesday, Trump’s favorable rating was just 40 percent, far lower than the pre-inauguration ratings shown by his predecessors -- Barack Obama (79 percent), George W. Bush (62 percent), Bill Clinton (65 percent), Ronald Reagan (58 percent) and Jimmy Carter (78 percent).

Trump also had an unfavorable rating of 54 percent, compared with 9 percent of Jimmy Carter and the previous record high of 36 percent of George W. Bush. Obama's unfavorable rating just before being sworn in was just 18 percent. Just days before inauguration, 52 percent of Americans think that they believe Trump is not qualified to serve as president. "The good news for Trump is that the 52 percent figure is the lowest since he became a candidate," the Washington Post said.

Other polls, including those by Gallup and CNN, showed almost the same results. Regarding the polls, Trump wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning: "The same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls. They are rigged just like before." He refuses to believe that he is the least popular incoming president over the last 40 years.

Hyong-gwon Pu bookum90@donga.com