Key keywords: Donald Trump approval rating, 2024 US presidential election, US Supreme Court favorability, national public opinion poll, independent voter sentiment, Biden administration job performance, registered voter survey The latest national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on May 15, 2024, reveals two notable shifts in U.S. public opinion ahead of the November general election: former President Donald Trump’s job approval rating has recorded a small but statistically significant bump, while public favorability of the U.S. Supreme Court has moved to a near-even split after years of sustained negative ratings. The survey of 1,000 registered U.S. voters, conducted between May 10 and May 14 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, shows Trump’s overall approval rating now stands at 46%, up 4 points from a March 2024 poll from the same outlet. The gain is driven largely by consolidated support among Republican voters, 92% of whom now say they approve of Trump’s performance during his time in the White House, up 6 points from two months prior. Independent voters also shifted slightly in Trump’s favor, with 44% saying they approve of his past job performance, compared to 39% in March. Poll analysts attribute the bump to widespread Republican framing of Trump’s ongoing New York criminal trial as a politically motivated “witch hunt,” as well as growing voter frustration with the Biden administration’s handling of persistent grocery and housing inflation, border security backlogs, and foreign policy conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. On the Supreme Court front, the poll shows 44% of registered voters now hold a favorable view of the nation’s highest court, while 46% hold an unfavorable view, a dramatic shift from the 38% favorable, 55% unfavorable split recorded in July 2022, just weeks after the court overturned Roe v. Wade. The improvement in ratings comes after a series of recent rulings that crossed ideological lines, including a bipartisan decision to expand access to veteran health care benefits, a ruling limiting the Biden administration’s ability to unilaterally implement sweeping environmental regulations without congressional approval, and a unanimous decision rejecting efforts to remove former President Trump from state election ballots under the 14th Amendment. The court’s ratings are strongest among Republican voters, 78% of whom hold a favorable view, while 21% of Democratic voters say the same. Independent voters split 42% favorable to 45% unfavorable, closely matching the overall national average. Polling directors note that both shifts are relatively small and could shift again as the 2024 election cycle progresses, with upcoming Supreme Court rulings on presidential immunity and medication abortion access expected to have a major impact on public opinion in the months leading up to Election Day.