62% say that Trump does not tell the truth in the investigation of Russia

"The dam did not burst, Donald Trump," said Democratic pollster Peter Hart, whose firm conducted this investigation with Republican pollster Bill McInturff. "But this study suggests all the structural cracks [that exist] of the dam."

The NBC / WSJ poll – conducted December 9-12 – comes after new developments in the investigation of Russia and other investigations involving the president, including evidence and allegations that :

• Trump and his team were offered "synergy" with the Russian government;
• Trump led an illegal campaign financing scheme to make payments covering two presumed cases in the final days of the 2016 campaign; 19659012] The former president of the Trump campaign, Paul Manafort, continued to communicate with Trump administration officials well after his indictment;
• and former Trump attorney / mediator Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Trump denied that he ordered Cohen to make payments covering the alleged cases. "I never ordered him to do anything wrong – whatever he did, he did it all by himself – he's a lawyer." A lawyer who represents a client is supposed to do which is good, that's why you pay them a lot of money. "

In the survey, if one asked whether Trump had been honest and honest with regard to the investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 campaign and related issues, 62% of adults say disagree. This includes 94% of Democrats, 64% of independents and a quarter (24%) of Republicans.

In contrast, 34% think that Trump was honest and honest about the survey, including 70% of Republicans and 29% of independents. and only 5% of Democrats.

These figures are slightly different from August, when 38% of registered voters agreed that Trump was honest and honest about the survey and that 56% disagreed.

"Last week, Cohen and Manafort the news clearly hurt the president – no dramatic move to say it, but a gradual erosion of President Trump's credibility," said Fred Yang, a Democratic investigator at Hart Research Associates.

Still in the survey, 50% of Americans surveyed say they have investigated Russia. – led by the special advocate Robert Mueller – gave them "major", "somewhat important" or "some" doubts only about the Trump presidency, compared to 44%

McInturff, the GOP pollster , says the 44% is probably a "powerful reminder of the status of its political base."

In addition, a plurality of respondents – 46 per cent – say that the convictions and guilty pleas of members of the 2016 Trump campaign suggest potential wrongdoing by the president, compared to 23 per cent who feel that that wrongdoing is limited to these people; 28% do not know enough to say

And asked if the Mueller inquiry should continue, 45% think it should be, while 34% think that it should end, which is essentially the same as the August NBC / WSJ poll.

More and more Americans want congressional Democrats – not Trump – responsible for defining politics

A month after the results of the mid-term elections of 2018, 48% of Americans say they want that Congressional Democrats play a leading role in shaping the country's policy, against 21% who want congressional Republicans to take the lead and 19% who want Trump to be in charge.

The figures correspond to those previously obtained by the NBC / WSJ polls of June and October 2017.

In its response to the midterm elections, 10% of Americans think that Trump understood that voters wanted a change of direction and that he made the necessary adjustments. 22% say that he received the message but did not make those adjustments; 33% say he did not understand the message; and 31% say the elections were not a message of change of direction.

"Voters think they sent a message and think that the president has not yet understood," said Yang, the pollster Democrat. But McInturff retorts that Trump simply reflects the overwhelming number of Republicans who are satisfied with the mid-term results and who do not believe they have sent a message.

Forty-three percent approve of Trump's work

Trump's work in the new NBC / WSJ polls, the rating is 43%, 54% disapprove among adults. (Just before mid-term, 46% of people were in agreement and 52% disagreed with registered voters.)

And for the next few years, 38% of registered voters say they would vote " definitely "or" probably "for Trump. when re-elected, compared to 52% of voters who would vote "definitely" or "probably" against him – unchanged from December 2017.

The public is increasingly pessimistic about the economy

Finally, the survey reveals the percentage of Americans who think that the US economy will deteriorate over the next 12 months is at its highest point since 2013.

Overall, 28% of respondents say their economy's economy Will improve over the next year, 33% think it will deteriorate and 37%. I think it will stay pretty much the same.

(These figures were largely reversed: in January, 35% of respondents said that the economy would improve, 20% said that things would deteriorate and 43% that they would remain the same) . "For the first time in the era of Trump's presidency, his safety net of a robust economy is showing signs of collapse," said Yang, the Democratic pollster.

"And Remember, the booming economy has not prevented voters from turning against Republicans in November, "he added.

NBC / WSJ survey on 900 adults – of which almost half was reached by mobile phone – was carried out from December 9 to 12. The overall error margin of the survey is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.The margin of error for the 725 registered voters is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Mark Murray

Mark Murray is a senior editor of NBC News.