Trump’s Approval Rating Hits New Low, and Ebola Outbreak Declared a Global Health Emergency

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0:33From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Will Jarvis, in for Tracy Mumford. Today's Monday, May 18th. Here's what we're covering.

0:44President Trump's approval rating in his second term has reached a record low. According to a Times-Siena poll released this morning, just 37 % of voters approve of how Trump is handling his job as president. That's less than at any point since he took office last year. Trump's approval rating has dropped four points since January alone, and a majority of voters seem deeply skeptical of how he's handling some of the country's most pressing issues. For example, 64 % of voters disapprove of how he's handled the economy, and 65 % say they disapprove of how he's handled the war in Iran. More broadly, a growing number of voters say that Trump's policies are hurting them personally.

1:25The owner of a cleaning company in Missouri told The Times he voted for Trump in 2020 and 2024, but said he was, in his words, very pissed off with the president's decision to attack Iran. He said, quote, I just want my family to live a good, healthy life, adding that he didn't want to constantly pay more and more and more for food and other essentials. Still, Republicans broadly approve of Trump's job performance and how he's handled the war. And this weekend, there was more evidence that the president has continued to keep a tight grasp on his party. When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn't turn out the way you want it to.

2:02In Louisiana on Saturday, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who's clashed with the president, lost his primary election after being beaten by a Trump-backed candidate. But you don't pout. You don't whine. You don't claim the election was stolen. You don't find a reason why. Cassidy was one of a small handful of Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his impeachment trial after January 6th. In the years since, Cassidy tried to repair the relationship, but Trump kept vowing to oust him. And the president celebrated this weekend's results on social media, writing that Cassidy's, quote, disloyalty was now a part of legend.

2:39Cassidy's defeat marks the second time this month that Republican primary voters have sent a message about defying the president. In Indiana, a group of state lawmakers Trump had targeted over a failed redistricting effort lost their primary elections. One GOP consultant told The Times that Trump's power over the party could potentially hurt Republicans in the midterms, with swing district candidates wanting space from an increasingly unpopular president, but worrying about how Trump himself might react. For the moment, the next big test of Trump's sway will come tomorrow. Republican Representative Thomas Massey, who's criticized the White House over the Epstein files and the war in Iran, is facing voters in a primary election in Kentucky.

3:31Now, two quick updates on the Trump administration. First, a new analysis estimates that President Trump's mass deportation campaign has separated more than 100 ,000 children from their parents. A vast majority of those kids are U.S. citizens. The report from the Brookings Institution suggests that federal statistics about family separations have been an undercount. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said that when parents of U.S.-born children are detained, they're given a choice—leave the country with their kids or place them with someone living in the U.S. legally. According to experts, many of those kids end up living with older siblings, other family members, or neighbors, sometimes putting a strain on households that are already struggling to get by.

4:15Around the country, many schools and legal aid groups have been helping immigrants appoint a caregiver for their kids in case they get detained. The head of one group said she hears from mothers who've been separated from their children, quote, almost every day. And the Times has learned that for the past four months, The U.S. has been quietly negotiating over the future of Greenland. We need Greenland for national security. And if you take a look at Greenland, you look up and down the coast, you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. President Trump has repeatedly said he wants to seize the island, which is partly controlled by Denmark.

4:51While he's backed off those public threats in recent months, behind closed doors, U.S. officials have pushed forward on talks with Greenland and Denmark. Among other things, the U.S. has been trying to extend a long-standing military arrangement to allow U.S. troops to stay in Greenland indefinitely. And the Trump administration wants effective veto power over any major investment deals there to potentially box out countries like Russia and China. While Greenland's prime minister said he's open to working with the U.S. on some issues, other politicians there are warning that if Greenland agrees to the U.S.

5:24demands, it would be a blow to the island's sovereignty. One member of parliament said, quote, we might as well raise our own flag halfway. To respond to and contain the outbreak, additional WHO experts will join the WHO team already on the ground in coming days. The World Health Organization has declared that a new outbreak of the Ebola virus is a global health emergency. As of yesterday, there have been reports of more than 300 suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including nearly 90 deaths, according to U.S. health officials. Some cases have also been confirmed in neighboring Uganda, and the WHO has warned the scale of the outbreak could be far larger than has been detected.

6:10The disease spreads through contact with bodily fluids and contaminated objects like clothing and bedding. And the rare type of the virus that's taken hold now has no targeted vaccine or treatment. It has a mortality rate of 25 to 50 percent. The outbreak was declared in Ituri region, northeastern Congo, and that is a particularly troubled place. Matthew Bigg is the Times' East Africa bureau chief. He says that the part of Congo where cases have been spreading has been in political turmoil. A few years ago, following attacks by insurgent groups there, the country's president launched a widespread crackdown in the region, declaring a state of siege effectively martial law.

6:52All of that has fractured the relationship between the government and the population. And that matters because trust in the authorities is a critical factor in containing the spread. But the other thing is obviously in a state of siege, healthcare services and healthcare facilities are not as strong as they need to be. And that, of course, makes the task of combating the outbreak much more difficult. Matt says there's another factor that could potentially complicate the response to the Ebola cases, the Trump administration's push to slash foreign aid. USAID was a key player in containing previous Ebola outbreaks in Africa, but the White House shuttered the department last year.

7:48And finally, in Colombia, the Times has been reporting on how a new tourism industry in the country has been sparked by apps for bird watchers. Birders have long traveled around the world to get a glimpse of rare or spectacular species. It's known as avian tourism. And in recent years, more and more people have been learning about Colombia's remarkable biodiversity, as the apps Merlin and eBird have brought birding to the masses. For example, Merlin, which lets you identify birds using a photo or recording of their song, has been downloaded by nearly 40 million people. And on eBird, which bills itself as the world's largest birding community, the map of Colombia is bright red, showing that close to 2 ,000 bird species have been recorded there.

8:37It's basically beckoning people to come spot a red-headed barbit or an Andean cock-of-the-rock, yes, that's a real bird, for themselves. To keep up with the new wave of app-toting avian tourists, some Colombians are now turning to the birding business, gearing up to host visitors from around the world. Some local bird enthusiasts say they hope that will help preserve the country's environment by creating an incentive to protect habitats for the species that live in them. One woman who hosts birders on her property in Northern Columbia told The Times that she and her husband spent years using chainsaws to cut down their trees to make charcoal.

9:13But now she says she's stopped to try and keep the birds and the tourists around.

9:22Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, an inside look at the high-stakes courtroom battle between two of the most powerful billionaires in tech, Sam Altman and Elon Musk. You can find that in the Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Will Jarvis. The headlines will be back tomorrow.