This week’s Economist/YouGov poll covers…
- Whether Americans are siding with Donald Trump or Elon Musk in their spat
- How many Americans think ICE agents should have to wear uniforms when making arrests
- Which groups of people in the U.S. illegally Americans say shouldn't be deported
- Whether Americans agree with Musk on the budget
- Preferred decisions on upcoming major Supreme Court cases
Trump
- 52% of Americans strongly or somewhat disapprove of how Donald Trump is handling his job as president, while 43% strongly or somewhat approve
- That's slightly more disapproval than last week, when 49% disapproved and 45% approved, but in line with Trump's job approval numbers over the past month and a half
- Americans are more likely than not to disapprove of how Trump is handling economic issues. He has a net approval (the percent who approve minus the percent who disapprove) of -10 on his handling of jobs and the economy, and -18 on his handling of inflation and prices
- But more Americans approve than disapprove of how Trump is handling immigration: His net approval on that issue is +4
Important issues
- 24% of Americans say inflation and prices is the most important issue for them, followed by 14% naming jobs and the economy. Other issues Americans are likely to name as their most important are health care (9%), taxes and government spending (8%), and immigration (8%)
- The share of Americans naming immigration as their most important issue has fallen from 16% in March 2024 to 8% now
- Other prominent issues have seen only minor changes over the past year in the share of Americans naming them the most important
- This week's survey marks a change in how the Economist and YouGov ask respondents what issue is their most important
- Previously, respondents were asked to rate how important each of a list of issues were to them, and then asked in a follow-up to rate which of the issues they considered important were the most important
- Now respondents are asked directly which they consider their most important issue, without first being asked to rate each individual issue
- Despite the methodological change this week, the results stayed mostly the same. The biggest changes were health care, which went from 11% calling it their most important issue to 9%, and national security, which went from 5% to 7%
Musk
- More Americans have unfavorable opinions about Elon Musk than on any previous Economist / YouGov Poll, in the wake of Musk's dramatic break with Trump
- Musk was already deeply unpopular with Democrats, around 80% of whom viewed Musk very or somewhat unfavorably last week, and Musk's spat with Trump didn't change that
- But many Republicans did turn on Musk, who went from 76% favorable / 18% unfavorable last week among Republicans to 67% / 28%
- Musk's net favorability among Republicans fell from +59 to +39
- When it comes specifically to Musk's break with Trump, Republicans overwhelmingly side with Trump over Musk
- 74% of Republicans say they side with Trump, while only 6% side with Musk
- Among the roughly half of Republicans who identify as "MAGA Republicans," 92% side with Trump and 4% with Musk
- Non-MAGA Republicans are still much more likely to side with Trump (51%) rather than with Musk (9%); 29% of non-MAGA Republicans — Republicans who say they don't identify as MAGA — say they side with neither man, compared to 1% of MAGA Republicans
- Overall, half (50%) of Americans side with neither Trump nor Musk
- During the fight between the two, Trump suggested terminating government subsidies and contracts with Musk's companies; 43% of Americans strongly or somewhat support this and 28% are opposed, with 29% not sure
- Much of this support comes from Democrats, 61% of whom support ending Musk's contracts. Among Republicans, 28% support ending Musk's contracts and 46% oppose it
- Musk responded by accusing Trump of being in the files of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 42% of Americans think Trump was involved in Epstein's crimes, and 32% think he wasn't
- Most Democrats think Trump was involved with Epstein's crimes (73% yes / 5% no), and most Republicans think he wasn't (10% / 69%)
ICE and deportations
- 45% of Americans have a very or somewhat favorable view of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while 43% view it very or somewhat unfavorably
- In early February, when the question was last asked, 50% had a favorable view of ICE and 35% an unfavorable one. Since then Democrats have become much less favorable toward ICE (-13 net favorability in February and -68 now) while Republicans have become more favorable (+53 then, +70 now)
- Only 27% of Americans say they strongly or somewhat support abolishing ICE, while 45% strongly or somewhat oppose this
- Democrats are more likely to support than oppose abolishing ICE, but less than half of Democrats (47%) support abolishing it, and 27% oppose it
- Most Republicans oppose abolishing ICE, with 69% opposed and 9% in favor
- Most Americans say ICE officers should be required to wear uniforms when making arrests: 68% say they should and 18% say they shouldn't
- The vast majority of Democrats say ICE agents should have to wear uniforms (89% vs. 4%), as do two-thirds of Independents (67% vs. 14%)
- Republicans are more likely to say ICE officers should have to wear uniforms (48%) than to say that they shouldn't (35%)
- Americans are split over whether ICE officers should be allowed to wear masks that hide their identities while making arrests: 39% say they should and 47% say they shouldn't
- Most Democrats say ICE agents shouldn't be allowed to wear masks (16% yes / 74% no)
- A majority of Republicans say they should be allowed (64% / 22%)
- Americans have mixed opinions on whether people who are in the U.S. illegally should be deported, based on six different scenarios
- There is overwhelming support for deportation of people in the country illegally who have committed violent crimes (87% say they should be deported / 4% say they should not)
- Deporting people who have committed non-violent crimes is more divisive (47% / 34%)
- For four other groups, majorities of Americans say they should not be deported:
- People who have young children who are U.S. citizens (26% / 54%)
- People who have lived in the U.S. for many years without committing any crimes (24% / 61%)
- People who came to the U.S. as children (22% / 61%)
- People who are married to a U.S. citizen (17% / 66%)
- Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say each of those six groups should be deported
- Majorities of Republicans say people in the country illegally who have committed violent or non-violent crimes should be deported
- Republicans are more likely than not to say the other four groups should be deported, but less than 50% say so for each group
- Of the six groups, a majority of Democrats only supports deporting people who have committed violent crimes
The federal budget
- Half of Americans strongly or somewhat oppose Trump's proposed budget, while 30% support it and 21% have no opinion
- Most Republicans support the budget: 66% are in favor and 16% are opposed
- The share of Democrats who oppose the budget is larger than the share of Republicans who support it: 5% of Democrats support and 82% oppose
- Democrats also feel more strongly in their opposition to the budget than Republicans do in their support
- Among Republicans, 29% strongly support the budget and 37% somewhat support it
- Among Democrats, 72% strongly oppose the budget and 10% somewhat oppose it
- Among the 46% of Americans who say the U.S. should cut spending to balance the budget without increasing taxes, 51% support the budget and 34% oppose it
- Among Americans who support tax increases to reduce the budget deficit, most people oppose Trump's budget:
- Those who support tax increases to reduce the deficit but not spending cuts oppose it by 11% vs. 89%
- Those who support a combination of tax increases and spending cuts oppose it by 16% vs. 72%
- Americans who support neither tax increases nor spending cuts for deficit reduction oppose the budget, 10% vs. 68%
- The Economist and YouGov asked Americans whether they agree with a statement by Elon Musk that the budget "will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt."
- In an experiment, half of respondents were told Musk had said the statement, while half were shown the statement with no attribution
- More Americans strongly or somewhat agree with the statement when it is attributed to Musk than when it isn't attributed to Musk (56% vs. 49%)
- Democrats, Independents, and Republicans are all more likely to agree with the statement when it is attributed to Musk
- Support for the budget is down sharply from a week earlier: 30% support it and 50% oppose it this week, compared to 37% who supported it and 45% who opposed it last week
- One possible reason: This week the question about support immediately followed the question quoting Musk's statement in opposition to the budget
Upcoming Supreme Court cases
- The Economist and YouGov asked Americans about issues underlying several upcoming cases at the U.S. Supreme Court:
- 16% say private insurance plans should be able to opt out of providing free care for preventative services, while 65% are opposed, an issue in Kennedy v. Braidwood Management
- 46% say district judges should be able to block a presidential policy from taking effect nationwide, and 33% say they should not be able to, an issue in Trump v. CASA Inc.
- 64% say parents should be allowed to opt their children out of public school lessons that include discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation and that conflict with their religious belief, and 21% say parents should not be allowed to opt their children out. This is an issue in Mahmoud v. Taylor
- 27% say transgender minors should be allowed to access gender-affirming medical treatments, and 53% say they should not be allowed to do this, an issue in United States v. Skrmetti
- 47% say states should be allowed to require adults to verify their age by uploading a copy of their government ID before accessing pornographic websites, and 30% say states should not be allowed to require this, a question in Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton
— Carl Bialik contributed to this article
Throughout this report, some numbers may appear to be off by 1 because of rounding
See the toplines and crosstabs for the June 6 - 9, 2025 Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,533 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 (Win McNamee / Staff)
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