Poll before Signal scandal shows public unhappy with Trump appointees

Roughly half of American voters are disappointed in President Trump’s nominees for his administration, according to new polling taken just before the White House weathered controversy over top officials' use of Signal to discuss plans for airstrikes in Yemen.

NBC News polling found that 52 percent were generally disappointed with Trump’s pick to head up federal agencies and departments, compared to 45 percent who said they were generally pleased.

The poll was conducted shortly before a bombshell report from The Atlantic that its editor was included, apparently inadvertently, in a Signal group chat of Trump administration officials discussing details of a U.S. plan to bomb targets in Yemen. 

The report has brought senior members of the Trump White House under sharp scrutiny, though Trump has shrugged off the reporting and officials have insisted the chat did not include classified material. 

National security adviser Mike Waltz reportedly added The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the chat, which also included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President Vance and other top names. 

Testifying on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and FBI Director Kash Patel weathered tough questions about the Signal chat and the actual texts that were released in a subsequent piece from the magazine.

The disappointment level for Trump’s second administration picks, as logged in the NBC polling, is higher than the 44 percent who were disappointed with his first-term choices. 

It’s also a big jump up from what the pollsters recorded at the start of the administrations of former Presidents Obama, George W. Bush and Clinton, for each of whom disappointment registered in the teens. The question was notably not tested at the start of former President Biden’s term.

There’s a sharp partisan divide, though, as just 1 in 10 Republican voters said they’re disappointed in Trump’s personnel, while 4 percent of Democratic voters said they were pleased. 

Trump's overall approval rating was at 47 percent support, compared to 51 percent disapproval.

The NBC News poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters from March 7-11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.