This week’s Economist/YouGov poll covers Donald Trump's appointees, Trump's policy proposals, opinions of Trump and Kamala Harris, Trump's foreign-policy credentials, and wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
President-elect Trump
Trump's appointees
- Americans are more likely to approve than to disapprove of four recent appointments by Donald Trump to his administration, among five included in the poll
- The selections of Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for secretary of health and human services receive the highest shares of approval of five asked about on the poll, though still below 50%
- More approve than disapprove of Tulsi Gabbard's appointment as director of national intelligence (42% vs. 33%) and Peter Hegseth’s appointment to be Secretary of Defense (38% vs. 34%)
- Trump's appointment of U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz for attorney general divides opinion almost evenly: 37% approve and 39% disapprove
- No more than 23% of Democrats approve of any of the five appointments
- At least 69% of Republicans approve of each of the five appointees
Trump's policy promises
- Majorities of Americans strongly or somewhat oppose two of the four Trump policy proposals and plans included in the poll, in a question that did not mention Trump's name: his plan to prosecute politicians who oppose him (69% oppose) and his plan to eliminate the Department of Education (58%)
- 84% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans oppose prosecuting politicians who have been critical of Trump
- Americans divide closely on Trump's plan for a 60% tariff on Chinese goods: 37% support it and 42% oppose it
- 65% of Americans — including 49% of Democrats and 85% of Republicans — support the creation of a commission to audit the federal government and cut spending
- Majorities of Americans expect Trump will succeed in implementing the tariff on China (55%) and setting up the auditing commission (61%)
- Fewer think Trump will shut down the Department of Education (37%) and prosecute those who criticize him (36%); many are unsure
Opinions of the candidates
- 51% of Americans have a very or somewhat favorable opinion of Trump, the highest level going back at least as far as the start of his first term as president
- Men (58%) and adults under 30 (57%) are more likely to have favorable views of Trump than than women (45%) and Americans 65 and older (48%)
- 43% of Americans have favorable views of JD Vance, Trump's running mate, and 41% have unfavorable views, a better opinion of him than before the election
- 43% of Americans have favorable views of Kamala Harris, Trump's opponent in the election, and 53% have unfavorable views, a worse opinion of her than before the election
Commander-in-chief
- 55% of Americans are very or somewhat confident that Trump will be an effective commander-in-chief
- 50% are confident in his ability to handle an international crisis, while 39% are not
- 42% think that the U.S. will be more respected in the world in four years than it is today, while 30% say it will be less respected
- 55% say Trump cares some or a lot about the needs and problems of military veterans and service members; 65% of veterans and current service members say Trump cares some or a lot
- 66% of Americans describe Trump as a very or somewhat strong leader
- Even more describe Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, and Benjamin Netanyahu as strong leaders; none of the three divide Americans by party nearly as much as Trump does
Foreign Policy
The war in Ukraine
- 24% of Americans think Russia is currently winning in Ukraine, while 13% think Ukraine is winning
- 30% of Americans think Russia is more likely to win eventually, while 13% say Ukraine is more likely to win
- 60% of Americans sympathize more with Ukraine in the war than with Russia; only 3% sympathize more with Russia
- 76% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans sympathize more with Ukraine in the war
- 26% of Americans — including 44% of Democrats and 13% of Republicans — would favor increasing U.S. military aid to Ukraine; 28% of Americans would favor decreasing it, including 8% of Democrats and 46% of Republicans
- Majorities of Democrats (69%) and Republicans (55%) say they would prefer that Russia control no Ukrainian territory when the war ends
- But majorities of Democrats (61%) and Republicans (59%) think Russia will control at least some of Ukraine’s land when the war ends
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- Americans are more likely to favor decreasing U.S. military aid to Israel (33%) than to favor increasing it (18%); 28% want it to stay the same
- 9% of Democrats and 30% of Republicans favor increasing military aid to Israel
- Americans are somewhat more likely to favor increasing humanitarian aid to Palestine (27%) than to favor decreasing it (21%); 27% want it to stay the same
- 45% of Democrats and 9% of Republicans favor increasing humanitarian aid to Palestinians
- 70% of Americans strongly or somewhat support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza
- 37% expect that after hostilities end, Israel will continue to occupy Gaza
Throughout this report, some numbers may appear to be off by 1 because of rounding
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
See the toplines and crosstabs for the November 17 - 19, 2024 Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,595 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3.5%
Image: Getty (Rebecca Noble / Stringer)
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