Washington, Jan 27 (IANS): Only 36 per cent of American voters approved of the way the newly-inaugurated US President Donald Trump handled his job in his first week, a new poll showed.

The Quinnipiac University poll, conducted over the first five nights of Trump's presidency -- from January 20 to 25 -- showed that a larger percentage, 44 per cent, disapproved of Trump's job performance. Nineteen per cent were undecided in the poll, which was released on Thursday.

Only four per cent of Democratic voters surveyed approved of Trump's job performance, while the vast majority, 77 per cent, disapproved. Nineteen percent were undecided, Politico reported citing the poll.

Eighty-one per cent of Republican voters approved, while three per cent disapproved and 15 per cent were undecided.

Independents tilted against Trump: 35 per cent approved, but 45 per cent disapproved, with one in five undecided.

Trump's approval rating in the Quinnipiac poll is lower than in some other surveys conducted in the early days of his administration.

The latest Gallup tracking poll, conducted Monday through Wednesday, shows the percentage of all adults who approved of Trump (46 per cent) is essentially equal to the percentage who disapprove (45 per cent).

A Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted from January 20 to 22 gave Trump a higher approval rating (46 per cent) than disapproval rating (37 per cent) among registered voters.

The Quinnipiac poll also showed 50 per cent of voters think Trump will be a worse President than the man he replaced last week, Barack Obama, while 37 per cent think Trump will be a better President than Obama.

But a majority of voters, 53 per cent, were still generally optimistic about the next four years under Trump, while 43 per cent were generally pessimistic about the next four years.

The Quinnipiac University poll surveyed 1,190 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.