Donald Trump
US President Donald TrumpReuters

United States President Donald Trump's job approval rating is now down to just 44 percent -- the record low for a newly inaugurated President, according to a poll jointly conducted by NBC News and Wall Street Journal.

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The poll, which was conducted between February 18 and February 22, found that almost 48 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump's performance as the President and 32 percent of the people said that they felt his first month in the White House showed that he is not up to the job.

The poll asked people about the early challenges in the first month of his presidency, and 52 percent of people said that the issues which have cropped up in the initial month are "real problems" which are specific to Trump's administration. However, 43 percent of Americans called those challenges the typical "growing pains" for any new President.

Trump's ratings have come just two days before he is set to address a joint session of Congress, a State of the Union-style speech in which new presidents usually lay out their vision for the country, NBC News reported.

The polls state that Trump is the only US President in the history of modern polling to start his first term with a net negative approval rating. Reports state that former US President Barack Obama began his presidency in 2008 with a net positive rating of 34 percent in comparison to Trump's, who stands at a net negative rating of -4 percent.

Trump's demeanour has also received a heavily negative rating, with 18 percent of Americans deeming it right, while 55 percent of the people rank his temperament as dismal.

The polls, however, showed that at least 6 in 10 Americans said that they were hopeful about the future of the country, which included around 87 percent of Republicans and only 37 percent of Democrats.