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Fifty percent! That's not bad! Particularly given how much negative press Trump gets, according to Trump.

I was intrigued about the Rasmussen result, so I did a bit of digging and also reached out to CNN polling czar Jennifer Agiesta for her take.

There are a few reasons to be skeptical about the Rasmussen result.

* Rasmussen used an automated voice (as opposed to a real, live person) to conduct their polls. They are, therefore, barred by law from contacting people on cell phones. People who only use cell phones tend to be younger and more diverse than those who have landlines. And younger, more diverse voters have heavily favored Democrats in recent elections.

There are other, even more technical and nerdy reasons why you should be somewhat skeptical of Rasmussen, but you get the idea. In an industry in which transparency is the name of the game, Rasmussen just doesn't show very much of how they do what they do. That's not to say what they do is wrong; it's only to say we have no way of knowing how closely they adhere to accepted polling standards.

What Rasmussen may be picking up -- and this tracks with Gallup's findings as well -- is that after hitting a low point in his job approval at the start of this month, Trump has been tracking upward. Rasmussen measured him at 42% approval on April 3 while Gallup had Trump's weekly average at 38% as of April 2. Both polls suggest gains for Trump since then; the difference is that Trump started off higher in Rasmussen than in Gallup.

The rise in Trump's approval numbers tracks closely with his decision to strike a Syrian air base that US officials say was the staging ground for a chemical attack by that country's government on its own people. That strike took place Thursday, April 6.

The larger point here: No one poll should be taken as the "truth" about where Trump -- or any other politician -- stands. Polls are, by their nature, snapshots in time. That's how we all -- and, yes, this means you, President Trump -- should be treating them.

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Is Donald Trump's approval rating really 50 percent? - CNN

He has claimed that ongoing IRS audits prevent him from doing so, even though such audits wouldn't restrict anyone from publishing their returns. And Trump is mandated to be audited during the rest of his time in office.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Monday reiterated Trump's stance.

"It's the same thing that was discussed during the campaign trail -- the president is under audit. It's a routine one that continues," Spicer said. "Nothing has changed."

Related: The president always gets audited (and the veep too)

But Trump's public statements about his returns have shifted subtly over the years.

At first, Trump was open about wanting to release his returns. He began citing the ongoing audit as a reason not to release them in early 2016.

Here's a selection of remarks Trump has made:

MAY 20, 2014:

More than a year before he announced his presidential campaign, Trump told an Irish television station that he would "absolutely" release his tax returns if he entered the race.

"If I decide to run for office, I'll produce my tax returns, absolutely," he said. "And I would love to do that."

FEBRUARY 25, 2015:

Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt that he would "certainly show tax returns if it was necessary."

OCTOBER 4, 2015:

Trump said in an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos that he was considering releasing his tax returns.

"I'm thinking about maybe when we find out the true story on Hillary's emails," he said of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

JANUARY 24, 2016:

Trump told NBC's Chuck Todd that he had "very big returns."

Asked if he would release them publicly, Trump said, "we're working on that now."

"I have very big returns, as you know, and I have everything all approved and very beautiful and we'll be working that over in the next period of time, Chuck," Trump said. "Absolutely."

FEBRUARY 11, 2016:

Trump appeared again on Hewitt's radio program and said of his returns, "we'll get them out at some point, probably."

FEBRUARY 24, 2016:

Trump told CNN's Anderson Cooper that he has a "very complex system of taxes."

"We'll make a determination over the next couple of months," he said. "It's very complicated."

FEBRUARY 25, 2016:

Trump tweeted that he's already filed public financial disclosure forms that are "great." He said that tax returns "have 0 to do w/ someone's net worth."

The disclosure forms do give wide estimates of asset value. But tax returns would reveal much more. Even the top two pages of his 1040 and Schedule A, for example, would say how much taxable income he made, how much he paid in taxes, his charitable contributions and whether he paid tax to any foreign governments.

During a CNN-Telemundo debate later that day, Trump said he wanted to release his tax returns, but could not while he's under audit.

"I've had it for years. I get audited. And obviously if I'm being audited, I'm not going to release a return," he said. "As soon as the audit is done, I love it."

FEBRUARY 27, 2016:

Trump revisits the audit argument on Twitter.

"Tax experts throughout the media agree that no sane person would give their tax returns during an audit," he said. "After the audit, no problem!"

MAY 11, 2016:

Trump tells the Associated Press that his taxes are under "routine audit" and he will release them when the audit is done.

"I would release my tax returns when audit is complete, not after election!" he tweeted about the interview.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2016:

Trump says during the first presidential debate that his taxes will be released once an audit is finished.

"I don't mind releasing. I'm under a routine audit, and it will be released. As soon as the audit's finished, it will be released," he said.

OCTOBER 4, 2016:

Mike Pence says during a vice presidential debate with Democratic candidate Tim Kaine that Trump has not "broken his promise" about releasing tax returns.

"Look, Donald Trump has filed over 100 pages of financial disclosure, which is what the law requires," Pence said. He added that trump is "going to release his tax returns when the audit is over."

JANUARY 22, 2017:

White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said on ABC's "This Week" that "the White House response is that he's not going to release his tax returns."

She added: "We litigated this all through the election. People didn't care."

JANUARY 23, 2017:

Conway clarifies her comments with a tweet: "On taxes, answers (& repeated questions) are same from campaign: POTUS is under audit and will not release until that is completed."

APRIL 16, 2017:

A day after protestors called on Trump to release his tax returns, the president derided the demonstrators on Twitter.

"I did what was an almost an impossible thing to do for a Republican-easily won the Electoral College!" he tweeted. "Now Tax Returns are brought up again?"

APRIL 17, 2017:

Spicer, the White House press secretary, says Trump's tax returns are still under audit.

"It's the same thing that was discussed during the campaign trail, the president is under audit. It's a routine one that continues," he said.

Asked in a later exchange if we can assume Trump will never release his returns, Spicer said he would "get back to you on that."

--CNNMoney's Jeanne Sahadi contributed to this story.

CNNMoney (New York) First published April 17, 2017: 5:22 PM ET

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All the things Donald Trump has said about releasing his tax returns - CNNMoney

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed an estimated 21,000 guests for the 139th Easter Egg Roll at the White House Monday. But, while addressing the crowd from the Truman Balcony, Melania subtly nudged Donald, reminding him to put his hand over his heart for the National Anthema small moment that turned into a bigger discussion on social media. The couple's son Barron Trump, however, did not require any prompting from his mom.

(The U.S. Flag Code calls for anyone addressing the flag, either during the Pledge of Allegiance or the national anthem, to put their right hands over their hearts.)

Unfazed, Donald made a short speech about the state of nation before turning to the day's activities. "We're going to come out and join you, enjoy your company for a rolla great Easter Egg Roll. I don't know if we're going to be successful, but I know a lot of people, they're going to be successful," the President said. "I've seen those kids, and they're highly, highly competitive."

Donald also promised to "sign some cards" for the troops.

Then, it was Melania's turn to address the attendees.

"This is the first time that my husband and I hosting this wonderful tradition, and it's great that you are all with us today," Melania shared. "I hope you have a great time with many activities."

After thanking the military band, White House staff end Egg Roll volunteers for their help, she thanked guests for helping the First Family "renew" the tradition. "On behalf of the President and Barron," Melania, 46, said, "we wish you great fun and beautiful days coming ahead of us."

The First Lady later read from the children's book Party Animals. "I like it because it shows that we are all different," Melania said, "but we are all alike." White House press secretary Sean Spicer posed for a picture with Easter Bunny, a role he played during an Easter Egg Roll hosted by President George W. Bush; he read from the children's book How to Catch the Easter Bunny.

E! Online - Your source for entertainment news, celebrities, celeb news, and celebrity gossip. Check out the hottest fashion, photos, movies and TV shows!

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Melania Trump Nudges Donald Trump to Raise His Hand for the National Anthem - E! Online

Kim Jong-Un during a combat drill; Donald Trump listens during a news conference in the East Room of the White House.

Left, from KNS/AFP; Right, by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg, both from Getty Images.

The world breathed a sigh of relief Saturday after North Korea decided not to test a nuclear weapona provocation that the Trump administration had warned could lead the U.S. to launch a military attackopting instead to mark the 105th birthday of its founding leader, the late Kim Il Sung, with a massive military parade in Pyongyang. A missile test the following day failed seconds after liftoff, a humiliating setback that temporarily defused mounting geopolitical tensions over Kim Jong Uns nuclear ambitions. On Monday, U.S. equities rose as fears of an all-out war subsided.

How President Donald Trump intends to resolve the growing North Korean crisis remains unclear, though whether that is by design or reflects a lack of a coherent foreign policy is a matter of some debate. Over the past several weeks, as Kim has moved aggressively to advance his nuclear weapons program, the Trump administration has telegraphed a wide range of possibilities as to how the U.S. might respond. Last month, during his first major diplomatic tour of Asia, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared that the policy of strategic patience has ended and that all options are on the table for dealing with North Korea. On Monday, Vice President Mike Pence repeated that line while making a surprise appearance on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two countries, which have been locked in a military standoff since the suspension of the Korean War in 1953. North Korea will do well not to test his resolve or strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region, he added.

While the era of strategic patience may be over, the Trump administration is clearly taking some kind of strategic steps. Last week, the president announced that he had ordered an armada of military ships, including the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Carl Vinson and several nuclear submarines, to sail toward North Korea. NBC News reported that the National Security Council had presented Trump with a list of potential responses to North Korea, including moving missiles to South Korea or outright assassinating Kim. And while the White House quietly dismissed a subsequent report that Trump was prepared to launch a pre-emptive conventional strike if Kim reached for the nuclear trigger last weekend, as he had been expected to do, the president warned that the North Korean problem will be taken care of one way or another. On Monday, Pence also said that the U.S. would be open to securing the region through peaceable means, through negotiations, suggesting that Trump may be coming around to Beijings way of thinking.

The ambiguity of Trumps warnings, combined with the credible threat that he might be crazy enough to see them through, has yielded some results. China appears to be working more closely with the U.S. then before to increase pressure on Kimcooperation that Trump suggested on Twitter that he had bought by backing away from labeling China a currency manipulator. And Kim seemed to have called off his expected nuclear testfor now.

Certainly it makes people nervous when theyre not quite sure what he means by it, former ambassador to South Korea Christopher Hill said during an appearance on ABSs This Week on Sunday. At the same time, he suggested, Trumps more hawkish approach raises the risks of a sudden escalation with deadly results. And, you know, great powers cant really bluff. So when you talk in those terms, youve got to be prepared to back it up. And I guess thats what worries people the most.

Trump has said repeatedly in the past that he doesnt intend to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is (although he did precisely that when he warned Russia before launching a missile strike in Syria earlier this month). If there is any kind of Trump Doctrine, it might be a sort of calibrated volatility, keeping adversaries constantly on edge. A less generous interpretation, however, might be that the new president simply doesnt understand what he is doing and is making foreign policy on the fly. It only seemed to occur to Trump that Vladimir Putin is backing an evil person in Syria after his moves to bolster his alliance with the Gulf States put him into greater contention with Russiaa dynamic that he never seemed to anticipate on the campaign trail. Politico reports that Trump didnt ask for an assessment of why Syrian president Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons until after he had ordered his retaliatory strike. Last week, Trump himself told The Wall Street Journal that he didnt actually understand Chinas position on North Korea until the president of China, Xi Jinping, explained it to him. After listening for 10 minutes, I realized its not so easy, he said.

Trumps loose talk of war could force Pyonyang and Beijing to the table, but it could also backfire. After all, the threat of a foreign invasion is precisely why North Korea has been preparing a massive military force for the last 40 yearsand why it is racing to develop long-range nuclear weapons as a deterrent. As The New York Times notes, Kim learned his lesson from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, who was deposed and killed only a few hours after agreeing to give up his nuclear weapons program. The question for Trump is whether he is bothering to learn any lessons of his own before raising the stakes in East Asia. A nuclear standoff is no time for on-the-job training.

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Donald Trump Stumbles Toward War in East Asia - Vanity Fair

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For Donald Trump, the election is hardly 'over' MSNBC Yesterday morning, Donald Trump wasn't just annoyed by Tax Day protests related to his tax returns, he also suggested, Someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday. In reality, the events weren't especially small. For ... Surprise! Trump Continues to Raise Enormous Campaign Funds and Spend Them at His Companies.Slate Magazine (blog) Trump campaign raking in money for 2020, disclosures showCNN all 677 news articles »

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For Donald Trump, the election is hardly 'over' - MSNBC