New poll shows Trump's job-approval ratings climbing, but several challenges remain ahead of 2020

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

President Donald Trump speaks during CPAC 2019 on March 02, 2019 in National Harbor, Maryland.

• A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found that Trump's job-approval ratings are climbing, though a majority of voters still disapprove of his policies, which they described as outside of the mainstream.
• President Donald Trump still faces several obstacles with voters ahead of the 2020 Election.
• A majority of respondents took issue with Trump's legal woes involving special counsel Robert Mueller and his decision to declare a national emergency to secure funds for his long-touted border wall.

President Donald Trump's approval ratings have seen some growth, but he still faces several obstacles with voters ahead of the 2020 Election, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll

Only four in 10 voters responded that they would vote for his re-election, with the majority of respondents saying they don't think he's been truthful about special counsel Robert Mueller's probe (58%) and disapprove of him declaring a national emergency to secure funds for his long-touted border wall (60%).

These responses from voters taking issue with Trump were published alongside a slight increase in his job-approval rating, which rose three points to 46%, and a decrease in job performance disapproval, which fell from 54% to 52% in recent months.

More encouraging for Trump is the support within his own party. Nearly 90% of Republicans in the poll said that they approve of his work as president.

Additionally, 53% of respondents said they didn't foresee a recession in the next year, which GOP pollster Bill McInturff told the Wall Street Journal was usually a good sign for the incumbent.

When casting Trump against potential Democratic candidates, the poll found majorities of voters see a standard Democratic positions on issues such as climate change, health care, immigration, and abortion rights, as falling within the mainstream, but see GOP stances on the same issues as falling outside the mainstream, signaling that voters could become more divided in their responses to the election.

Read more: Here's everyone who has officially announced they are running for president in 2020

The poll was conducted from February 24 to February 27 and gathered responses from 900 American adults.

The poll's results come days after the House passed a resolution to overturn Trump's national emergency declaration and Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen accused Trump of federal and financial crimes in Congressional testimony related to the Russia probe.