Most say Trump unethical on Russia: poll

Most Americans think Donald Trump did something illegal or at least unethical regarding ties between his presidential campaign and Russia - and they think he's trying to obstruct the investigation looking into those possible connections.

The deeply divided country is more concerned about health care and the economy than any collusion with the Kremlin, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. But the survey also shows that Americans are unhappy with the way Trump is dealing with the investigations led by Congress and special counsel Robert Mueller.

Most people believe Trump is trying to obstruct the investigations, which have produced charges against four of his campaign advisers and increasingly appear focused on the president's inner circle.

Four in 10 Americans think the president has done something illegal when it comes to Russia, while an additional 3 in 10 say he's at least done something unethical. And 68 per cent disapprove of his response to the investigations.

There are significant partisan divisions, with Democrats far more likely than Republicans to be concerned about Trump's actions or to feel invested in what the probes uncover.

Overall, 62 per cent of Democrats say they think Trump has done something illegal, while just five per cent of Republicans think the same. Among Republicans, 33 per cent think he's done something unethical, while 60 per cent think he's done nothing wrong at all.

The AP-NORC poll surveyed 1,020 adults from Dec. 7-11 using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.