Biden in second day of Middle Eastern trip as economy views worsen back home

(KYMA, KECY/ CNN) - President Biden has begun holding bilateral talks with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem on the second day of his Middle Eastern tour.

Thursday he met with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, where the two leaders were seated next to each other in front of both nation's flags as they joked and discussed American baseball.

President Biden thanked the Prime Minister and also spoke about the importance of Israel being integrated into the region and said the vast majority of Americans are devoted to Israel.

Later the President will participate in the first leaders meeting of the I2u2 group with the leaders of Israel, India, and the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, while Biden remains overseas, Americans currently have a pretty negative view of the economy.

According to a new pew research poll conducted June 27th through July 4th, 49% of Americans rated the nation's economy as poor. 38% rated it as fair, and just 13% rated the economy as either excellent or good.

Nearly half in the new poll say they expect economic conditions to worsen in the next year.

The poll also found, just 37% of Americans approve of President Biden's job performance overall, while 39% are somewhat confident in his ability to make good decisions about economic policy.