This week’s Economist/YouGov poll covers Donald Trump's presidency, Elon Musk and DOGE, the administration's plans and priorities, and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump's government
- 50% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of Donald Trump's handling of the presidency, while 45% disapprove. This marks a slight increase in positive evaluations since last week, when 46% approved and 48% disapproved
- Trump's net approval is higher now than it was at the same stage of his first term, but lower than Biden's was at this point in his presidency
- Half of Americans (51%) agree that the U.S. is in a constitutional crisis, including 74% of Democrats and 32% of Republicans
- Fewer — 42% — believe that the government has a robust system of checks and balances. More Republicans (52%) than Democrats (38%) believe the country's checks and balances are robust
- Americans are divided on Trump's post about the U.S. that "he who saves his country does not violate any law": 40% strongly or somewhat agree with the statement, when not attributed to Trump, and 38% disagree
- 54% of Republicans and 34% of Democrats agree with this assertion
- Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents, slightly more strongly or somewhat approve of how congressional Democrats are responding to Trump's executive orders than disapprove (46% vs. 34%)
- The majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents (73%) approve of how Republicans in Congress are responding to Trump's orders. This marks a 9-percentage-point increase from last week, when 64% approved
- Do Democrats want their party to work with Trump in areas they agree on? 57% say they do, while 29% think congressional Democrats should oppose all of Trump's policies. The share of Democrats who want congressional Democrats to always oppose Trump has increased steadily since a month ago
- Republicans are twice as likely to say that Republicans in Congress should support all of Trump's policies than that they should oppose his policies when they disagree (55% vs. 28%)
Elon Musk and DOGE
- Slightly more Americans have a very or somewhat unfavorable view of Elon Musk (49%) than have a very or somewhat favorable view of him (43%)
- Slightly more have favorable (39%) than unfavorable views (36%) of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). More are unsure about it than are about Musk himself
- Half (52%) of Americans are very or somewhat concerned that Musk is using DOGE to benefit his companies and personal interests. This includes 81% of Democrats, 53% of Independents, and 24% of Republicans
- Most Americans (59%) think that Musk is having a lot of influence on Trump's administration, though only 16% say they want him to have a lot of influence
- 47% say Musk has more influence with the administration than they want him to, 3% say he has less, and 31% say he has as much as they want him to
- More Democrats, Independents, and Republicans believe Musk has a lot of influence than say they want him to, though the gap is modest among Republicans (42% vs. 32%)
Trump's policies
- Each week, we've asked about a variety of Trump's recent policies. Most of the policies included on this week's survey are opposed by more Americans than support them
- Opposition is higher than support for each of the following:
- Renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America
- Firing hundreds of thousands of U.S. federal workers
- Dropping federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams
- Allowing arrests of undocumented immigrants in places of worship
- Ending federal funding for schools and universities that require COVID-19 vaccination
- Donald Trump becoming chair of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Imposing a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports to the U.S.
- Banning the use of paper straws in federal facilities
- Offering refugee status to white South African farmers, known as Afrikaners
- Americans are slightly more likely to strongly or somewhat support than oppose suspending refugee resettlement and eliminating the penny from U.S. currency
- Majorities of Democrats oppose each of Trump's policies included in this week's poll. Eliminating the penny from U.S. currency is the most popular among Democrats, supported by one-third
- Most of Trump's plans included in this week's survey are supported by majorities of Republicans. However, Trump's order to offer refugee status to South African farmers is supported by only 27% of Republicans. And the Trump administration's attempts to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams is supported by only 29% of Republicans
- Only 15% of Americans overall have a favorable opinion of Adams, including 19% of Democrats and 20% of Republicans. Far more view him unfavorably
- Americans have mixed views on the size of various U.S. agencies and departments asked about on this week's poll. Few Americans, however, think that any of them should be eliminated entirely. The largest share supporting the elimination of any of them is 25% for DOGE, about as many as want it expanded (23%)
- More would prefer to expand than reduce or eliminate Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Defense, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Weather Service (NWS)
- More support reducing or eliminating than expanding the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and DOGE
- Democrats and Republicans have vastly different views on the proper size of many government agencies
- Democrats are more likely than Republicans to support a reduction in the size of DOGE, the Defense Department, and ICE
- Far more Republicans than Democrats favor cuts to USAID, the IRS, the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the CDC
- However, fewer than half of Republicans support completely eliminating certain agencies and departments that Trump has proposed eliminating, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), USAID, FEMA, and the Department of Education
The Russia-Ukraine war
- Most Americans — including majorities of Democrats and Republicans — say they primarily sympathize with Ukraine rather than Russia in the conflict between the two countries
- While most Americans support Ukraine more than Russia, few think that Trump does: Only 14% say that he sides with Ukraine, while 35% say he sides with Russia and 20% believe he supports both equally
- Only 10% of Republicans think Trump sympathizes primarily with Russia
- A majority of Americans (65%) view Ukraine as friendly or an ally to the U.S., compared to only 11% who say this is the case for Russia
- Far more Americans have favorable views of Volodymyr Zelensky (47%) than of Vladimir Putin (12%). This is true of both Democrats and Republicans
- Though Republican sympathies lie more with Ukraine and Zelensky than with Russia and Putin, nearly half (45%) of Republicans think that the U.S. should decrease its military aid to Ukraine. Americans overall are divided though lean more toward decreasing than increasing aid: 30% want aid decreased, 29% think it should stay the same, and 21% think it should be increased
- Americans are twice as likely to expect Russia to win the war than to expect Ukraine will (29% vs. 13%). 19% think they're both equally likely to win and 39% are unsure
- 59% of Americans think that when the war ends, Russia will have control of at least some of Ukraine's territory, while only 10% think it won't control any of it
- This is not most Americans' preference for an outcome to the war: 14% say they want Russia to be in control of at least some of Ukraine's territory, while 61% don't want Russia to control any of it
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 16 - 18, 2025 Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,603 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 (Joe Raedle / Staff)
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