This week’s Economist/YouGov poll covers Donald Trump's actions and policies, the mood of the country, Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s roles in the new administration, federal agencies, and flying.
Trump's actions and agenda
- Slightly more Americans strongly or somewhat approve of Donald Trump's job performance (46%) than disapprove (44%)
- 90% of Republicans, 38% of Independents, and 10% of Democrats approve of Trump's job performance
- Trump's net job approval of +2 is higher than at this point in Trump's first term (-1), but lower than Biden's net job approval in the second week of his term (+8) and than Trump's net approval last week (+6)
- Many of Donald Trump's plans included in this week's poll are opposed by more Americans than support them. Among his least popular policies are proposals to dissolve the Department of Education, to rename the Gulf of Mexico, and to fire FBI agents involved in Jan. 6 investigations
- More support than oppose a proposal to restrict bathroom use for transgender Americans, and to deport international students accused of antisemitic behavior in connection to Gaza protests
- A 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada — which was paused shortly after being implemented — is opposed by 49% of Americans and supported by 33%
- 70% of Americans believe that increasing tariffs on foreign goods generally leads to price increases; just 5% think it generally decreases prices
- At least 53% of Republicans support each of the 13 Trump policies included in this week's poll, while no more than 25% of Democrats support each one
- Only 30% of Americans believe that all or most of the executive orders issued by Trump in his second term have been constitutional. This includes 9% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans
- Most Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents (63%) strongly or somewhat approve of how Congressional Republicans have responded to Trump's executive orders, while only 9% disapprove
- Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents are more divided on how Congressional Democrats have responded to Trump: 39% approve and 37% disapprove
- On a separate question, 62% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents say that Democrats in Congress aren't doing enough to resist Trump's actions that the members of Congress disagree with; 22% say they're doing the right amount and 3% say they're doing too much
Mood of the country
- More Americans now say the U.S. is headed in the right direction (36%) than at any time since the early days of Joe Biden's presidency
- This rise in positive sentiments is driven by Republicans, 5% of whom said the country was headed in the right direction in mid-October, compared to 72% today
- This rise has more than countered a more modest decline in sentiment among Democrats: 51% said the country was headed in the right direction in October and 15% say so today
- More Americans have said the country is off on the wrong track than headed in the right direction consistently since at least 2009
- The share saying the country is headed in the right direction has gone up at the beginning of the presidential administrations of Barack Obama (2009), Trump (2017), and Biden (2021) — and, now, Trump's second term
Elon Musk
- 51% of Americans believe that Elon Musk has a lot of influence within Trump's administration, while only 13% say they want him to have a lot of influence. Nearly half — 46% — say they'd prefer for Musk to have no influence in the administration while only 4% say he has none
- Most Democrats (78%) think Musk has a lot of influence, while only 6% want him to; 80% want him to have none
- Republicans are more divided: The vast majority perceive Musk as having at least a little influence, and slightly fewer prefer for him to have influence (85% vs. 69%)
- The share of Republicans saying they want Musk to have a lot of influence over Trump's administration has fallen in recent months, to 26% from 47% just after the November election
- A separate YouGov poll conducted last week asked Americans about a gesture Musk made on January 20 during a speech celebrating the inauguration of Donald Trump
- Americans are divided in their interpretation of Musk's gesture. After being shown a video of the gesture, 42% say they interpret it as "a gesture from his heart," while 37% describe it as "a Nazi salute"
- Among people who interpret Musk's gesture as a Nazi salute, 50% think it was done on purpose to indicate support for Nazi views, while 31% think it was a joke or was made to provoke controversy
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
- The Senate will soon decide whether to confirm Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Slightly more Americans have a very or somewhat favorable view of Kennedy (44%) than view him unfavorably (40%)
- 61% of Americans have heard about Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again campaign, and among all Americans, more view it favorably (46%) than unfavorably (18%)
- Most Americans agree with Kennedy's assertion that ultra-processed food is driving the obesity epidemic; 74% say this claim is definitely or probably true
- Fewer agree with other controversial claims made by Kennedy, including that the COVID-19 vaccine is the deadliest vaccine ever (30% say this is definitely or probably true), that antidepressants are to blame for school shootings (26%), that vaccines cause autism (24%), or that fluoridated water decreases children's IQs (22%)
- 13% of Democrats and about half (51%) of Republicans think it is likely true that the COVID-19 vaccine has been the deadliest
Federal agencies and programs
- This week's survey asked Americans about nine federal government agencies. Each of the nine is viewed favorably by more Americans than view it unfavorably, and all but one — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — is evaluated more positively by Democrats than by Republicans
- Democrats and Republicans generally have very or somewhat favorable views of the National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- Views on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are highly polarized: Democrats mostly view the CDC favorably, while Republicans are divided
- Democrats hold more positive views than Republicans of several other government agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- At least half of Americans support increasing funding for each of Social Security (68%), Medicare (62%), and Medicaid (52%). Among those who don't support giving each of these programs more funding, most prefer for their funding levels to stay as they are, while very few want them to be given less funding or be eliminated entirely
- While Republicans are less likely than Democrats to support increasing funding for these programs, many still do: 62% want more funding for Social Security, 51% do for Medicare, and 35% do for Medicare
- Among Democrats, 77% want more funding for Social Security, 77% for Medicare, and 74% for Medicaid
- This marks an increase from last November, when 67% of Democrats supported increasing Social Security funding, 69% supported increasing Medicare funding, and 61% supported increasing Medicaid funding
Federal aviation
- Most Americans (59%) say they've heard a lot about the recent midair collision between a commercial airplane and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C.
- Since early January, there has been a 6-percentage-point drop in the share of Americans who say they aren't at all afraid of flying in an airplane, to 44% from 50%
- Views on the safety record of commercial airline travel remain relatively unchanged, and a similar share say it's safer to fly than drive as did in January
- Far more Americans hold favorable views (62%) of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) than unfavorable views (17%)
- Yet when it comes to the recent plane crash, more Americans place at least some blame on the FAA (46%) than to any of the five other entities asked about. Sizable shares also assign some blame to the Army (41%) and the commercial airline (27%)
- About half of Democrats — 48% — assign a great deal or some blame to Trump's administration
- Republicans are more likely to place at least some blame on the FAA (59%), the Army (49%), and Joe Biden's administration (40%). 39% of Republicans say Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is to blame, a theory Trump pushed in the immediate aftermath of the crash
Throughout this report, some numbers may appear to be off by 1 because of rounding
— Carl Bialik contributed to this article
See the toplines and crosstabs for the February 2 - 4, 2025 Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,604 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%.
Image: Getty (Anna Moneymaker / Staff)
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