Washington, January 18 (RHC)-- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will begin his term in office on Friday with an approval rating of just 40 percent, the lowest of any recent president, according to a new poll.

Just days before his inauguration, Trump's approval rating has dropped 6 points since Election Day on November 8, making it lower than that of the last three U.S. presidents, a CNN/ORC Poll released on Tuesday shows.

Trump’s approval rating is 44 points below that of outgoing President Barack Obama, who had an 84 percent approval rating when he took office in 2009.  Former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush had a 67 percent and 61 percent approval rating, respectively, when they took office.

About 53 percent of Americans say Trump's statements and actions since he was elected on November 8th have made them less confident in his ability to handle presidential duties.  Disapproval of his handling of the presidential transition has increased seven points to 52 percent, the percentage who think he will do a good job as president has decreased five points, and the share saying they have lost confidence in Trump's ability to be president climbed 10 points.

A Gallup poll released earlier this month found that less than half of Americans were confident that Trump can handle major presidential responsibilities, including dealing with challenging foreign policy matters such as an international crisis or using military force.

Trump was one of the most unpopular candidates ever nominated for president, according to opinion polls. His Democratic opponent in the 2016 presidential election race, Hillary Clinton, also had high unfavorable ratings.

Although Trump defied political experts as well as some historical election patterns in winning the presidency, it appears likely that he will begin his administration with far less support from the American people than other recent presidents have.