Donald Trump has acted in ways that previous presidents have actively avoided. And many of his recent behaviors are viewed by majorities of Americans as unacceptable for a president, our latest survey shows. Most of the 34 actions on the survey — which generally involve governance, abuse of power, and conflicts of interest and mostly describe things Trump has done as president — are viewed as unacceptable by more than half of Americans. The questions asked about presidents in general, without mentioning Trump or any former president — as was true with a similar survey we conducted early in Trump's second term.
Of the behaviors included in the survey, the ones that are most likely to be viewed by Americans as unacceptable for a president are withholding federal disaster aid based on political considerations (77%), refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order (75%), using private messaging apps rather than official channels to share classified information (74%), and using federal prosecutions of elected officials as political leverage (72%).
None of the presidential actions is viewed as acceptable by a majority of Americans, though some are approved of by at least one-third, including questioning the legitimacy of federal court rulings (40% view as acceptable), questioning the legitimacy of a U.S. election (39%), making major policy announcements on social media (37%), and conducting official meetings at properties they own (34%).
For nearly every action asked about on the poll, there are large differences in how many Democrats and Republicans consider them to be unacceptable for presidents. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to disapprove of all 34 actions asked about. The largest partisan gaps are on issues related to federal funding and workers, including abolishing federal agencies and departments without congressional approval (90% of Democrats and 24% of Republicans say it's unacceptable), firing hundreds of thousands of federal government workers (89% vs. 24%), and pausing the distribution of all federal grants and loans (89% vs. 26%).
Only one action asked about is considered unacceptable by a similar share of Democrats and Republicans: issuing pardons to family members, which Joe Biden did with his son Hunter in December. 65% of Republicans see this as unacceptable, compared to 68% of Democrats.
Republicans are generally more likely than Democrats to say they are not sure whether presidential actions are acceptable or unacceptable.
Related: Where Americans draw the line on presidential behavior
— Carl Bialik contributed to this article
See the results for this YouGov poll
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted April 21 - 24, 2025 among 1,168 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. 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 4%.
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