With the inauguration a little over a month away, just over a third of Americans (34 percent) think President-elect Trump will be a good or very good president, and another 23 percent think he will be average. Thirty-six percent think he will be a poor president. But expectations are strongly influenced by partisanship: 60 percent of Democrats expect him to be a poor president, while seven in 10 Republicans think Mr. Trump will be a good or very good president.

Mr. Trump ends the election year with far lower expectations than his two most recent predecessors did.  In December 2008, 63 percent of Americans thought Barack Obama would make a good (34 percent) or very good (29 percent) president, while just 7 percent expected a poor performance.  Less than half thought George W. Bush would make a good president in December 2000, but just 14 percent expected him to be a poor president.

So far, Americans are divided over Mr. Trump’s choices for positions in his administration. Forty-one percent approve of the choices Donald Trump has made for his cabinet so far, while another 41 percent disapprove.  Reaction to Mr. Trump’s cabinet appointees is far more negative than his two immediate predecessors:  seven in 10 Americans approved of the cabinet appointments of Barack Obama, and six in 10 approved of those appointed by George W. Bush.