PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s approval rating has hit an all-time low according to the latest Economist/YouGov poll. The survey found 62 per cent of Americans disapprove of the president’s performance while 63pc say the country is headed in the wrong direction. These are Trump’s worst numbers since he returned to the White House last year. The results align with findings of other polls, which show he has fallen out of favour with the majority of Americans. The slide isn’t just about an unpopular war with Iran. Trump’s management of the economy is also driving public discontent.

The first 18 months of the mercurial leader’s second term have been defined by disruption at home and abroad. His ‘America First’ unilateralism has meant military strikes on multiple countries and upending of the global trading system. It reflects contempt for international law and other nations’ sovereignty. For a president who promised to end wars, not start them, his record is the opposite. Trump assumed American power could browbeat other countries into compliance at no cost to the US. That was a miscalculation. His overreliance on force also failed to produce the results he wanted.

Read more from Maleeha Lodhi here.