This week’s Economist/YouGov poll covers…
- A slight rebound in Trump approval
- Expectations and blame for a possible government shutdown
- Why Comey was indicted and whether Americans think he's guilty
- Whose medical advice Americans trust
- Republicans' economic outlook grows more negative
People and groups in the news
Each week, we ask Americans how they feel about selected political and non-political figures and groups. Below, we present the net favorability of each of the people and groups asked about this week, calculated by subtracting the percentage of Americans who view them very or somewhat unfavorably from the percentage who view them very or somewhat favorably. Americans with no opinion of each are not included in the calculations. Figures may not add up precisely because of rounding:
- The White House
- Donald Trump: -13 net (41% view favorably / 54% unfavorably)
- Congressional political parties
- Republicans in Congress: -18 net (36% / 55%)
- Democrats in Congress: -26 net (32% / 58%)
- Congressional leaders
- Hakeem Jeffries: -9 net (28% / 36%)
- Mike Johnson: -9 net (28% / 37%)
- John Thune: -12 net (19% / 31%)
- Chuck Schumer: -22 net (24% / 47%)
- Others
- Jimmy Kimmel: +4 net (44% / 41%)
Trump approval
- Two weeks ago, Donald Trump hit a record low in job approval for his second term: 39% of Americans strongly or somewhat approved of Trump's job performance, and 57% disapproved, for a net approval of -18
- But the next two weekly Economist / YouGov Polls have seen Trump's net approval inch back up. It now stands at -14 — below Trump's net approval for most of his second term so far and for the majority of his first term, but no longer a record low
- Trump's net job approval has especially risen among the roughly 20% of Americans who don't identify with or lean toward either the Democratic or Republican parties
- Two weeks ago, 19% of this group approved of Trump's job performance and 69% disapproved, a -50 net approval
- Today, 26% of this group approves and 56% disapproves
- That's still sharply negative, with more than twice as many disapproving as approving, but an improvement from the ratio two weeks ago of more than 3-to-1
- The improvement in Trump's net approval over the past two weeks does not mean his approval will continue to rise, just as his decline earlier this month didn't last, either
- In Economist / YouGov Polls conducted throughout Trump's entire first term and his second term to date, increases in Trump's approval one week have been more likely to be followed by a decrease than an increase in the next week's poll — and decreases have been more likely to be followed by increases
A government shutdown
- 63% of Americans think a government shutdown is very or somewhat likely to occur this year, including majorities of Democrats (74%) and Republicans (55%)
- If a shutdown occurs in the next few weeks, more say that Republicans will be most responsible than say Democrats will be (33% vs. 27%); 31% say the two parties will be equally responsible
- Most Americans (63%) say that, given the choice of two options for how members of Congress should negotiate, "lawmakers should compromise to reach a budget agreement, even if it means sacrificing some priorities that they believe in," while 37% would prefer that lawmakers "fight for the priorities that they believe in, even if it means risking a government shutdown"
- Similar shares of Democrats (64%) and Republicans (61%) believe lawmakers should compromise on the budget
- 45% of Americans say they would personally be affected either a great deal (15%) or somewhat (29%) by a government shutdown; 28% say they would be affected a little and 27% say they would not be affected at all
- Majorities of Americans believe that, if the government shuts down, non-essential government workers will be furloughed (71%) and that national parks will be closed (60%). Smaller shares expect that Social Security payments will stop (33%) or that the U.S. Postal Service will stop mail delivery (31%)
James Comey
- Americans are divided in their views on whether former FBI Director James Comey is guilty of obstructing justice and making false statements to Congress five years ago, as last week's indictment of Comey charges: 36% think he committed these crimes, 32% think he did not, and 32% are not sure
- More think that Comey will probably or certainly not be convicted than think he will be convicted (30% vs. 24%); 23% think there is an even chance and 22% are not sure
- Nearly half (47%) of Americans think the Department of Justice is prosecuting Comey because he has been a political opponent of Trump; 31% think this is not the reason the DOJ is prosecuting him
- Another YouGov poll conducted last week found that more Americans have very or somewhat unfavorable opinions of Comey than have favorable ones (36% vs. 22%); many people (43%) say they don't know
- A majority (55%) of Americans believe that Trump is directing the Justice Department to go after his political enemies; 20% say he is not
Vaccines
- 39% of Americans are very dissatisfied with the way the Trump administration has been handling vaccines; 6% are somewhat dissatisfied, 18% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 16% are somewhat satisfied, and 13% are very satisfied
- Nearly half of Americans have either received a flu vaccine this year (10%) or are planning to receive one (37%)
- A smaller share of Americans have received (10%) or are planning to receive (23%) a COVID-19 vaccine this year
- More Americans believe COVID-19 vaccines are generally very or somewhat safe than say they are not very or not at all safe (59% vs. 31%). More than twice as many Democrats as Republicans view them as safe (86% vs. 33%)
- 63% of Americans say that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends about the right number of vaccines for children; 19% say it recommends too many vaccines and 5% say it recommends too few
- Roughly two-thirds (66%) of Americans say it is closer to their view that "except for medical reasons, vaccinations should be required for all children attending school," while 20% say they believe that "unvaccinated children should be allowed to attend school if their parents are opposed to vaccinations, for any reason"
- Only 27% of Americans say they have a lot or some trust in medical advice from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.; by comparison, far greater shares say they trust their own doctor (81%) and the CDC (54%)
- Half (50%) of Republicans trust medical advice from Kennedy, which is less than say they trust their doctor (79%) but slightly more than do the CDC (41%)
- Only 12% of Democrats trust medical advice from Kennedy, which is far less than trust their doctor (92%) or the CDC (71%)
The economy
- 19% of Americans say the think that overall the economy is getting better, while 53% say it's getting worse
- At the start of Trump's second term, 19% thought the economy was getting better and 37% said it was getting worse
- Republican sentiment about the direction of the economy has gotten more negative: 41% now say the economy is getting better and 22% say it is getting worse, matching the lowest net positive economic view among Republicans (+19) of Trump's second term
Throughout this report, some numbers may appear to be off by 1 because of rounding
See the toplines and crosstabs for the September 26 - 29, 2025 Economist/YouGov Poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,656 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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