official coronavirus lockdown, though most of us

have now been working from home for the best

part of two months.

The topic occupying a lot of people's minds

in the city this week is Donald Trump's reputation.

After a tumultuous week last week in which he appeared

to suggest injecting antiseptic might be a treatment

for the virus, before then insisting that he was being

sarcastic, the president this weekend abruptly cancelled his

daily media appearances.

The Washington Post reported that this

was because he had been presented with polling evidence

showing that he was slipping in the polls

and falling behind his rival Joe Biden in certain key swing

states.

His advisers apparently had told him

that his occasionally erratic media

performances were to blame.

Well, it is certainly true that Donald Trump's rating

has fallen in recent weeks after a bump

during the initial phases of the outbreak.

But then the same is true for pretty much every major world

democratic leader.

Countries across the world have rallied

behind their governments in the early stages of this crisis,

before then asking slightly tougher policy

questions about those governments responses

in recent weeks.

The remarkable thing for Donald Trump

is how stable his approval ratings have remained

throughout all of this.

In fact, his approval rating has remained

within a band of 35 per cent to 45 per cent

for pretty much the entirety of his presidency.

Compare that with Boris Johnson, for example,

whose approval ratings started off this year at around 48

per cent before soaring to 66 per cent just a few weeks ago

and then drifting slightly to 60 per cent.

What that tells me about Donald Trump

is that pretty much most Americans have made up

their minds about him.

Just under half like him.

Just over half dislike him.

That really hasn't changed throughout everything -

throughout the Russia allegations,

throughout the impeachment inquiry,

and now throughout the coronavirus outbreak.

That doesn't, however, mean that he is

set to lose the next election.

Remember that in 2016 he lost the popular vote to Hillary

Clinton but won enough of those key swing states

to beat her in the overall election.

The same could happen this time around regardless

of coronavirus.