A new YouGov survey asked Americans to compare Donald Trump’s first and second terms as president. Majorities say that compared with his first term, during Trump’s second term as president there have been increases in immigration enforcement actions, use of military force domestically, and political violence.
14% of Americans say they approve of Trump’s first term more than his second; 16% approve more of his second term. One in five (20%) approve of both equally and 46% approve of neither. Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to approve more of Trump’s second term than of his first (34% vs. 1%).
The majority (56%) of Americans say Trump has done more in his second term as president than by this point in his first term. 13% think he’s done the same amount in his second term and 19% say he’s done less.
71% of Republicans and 44% of Democrats think Trump has done more in his second term as president than by the same point in his first term.
About four in five Americans (83%) say that compared to this point in Trump’s first term as president, during Trump’s second term there have been more immigration enforcement actions. Majorities say that compared with his first term to this point, the second term has had more restructuring of federal agencies (71%), trade disputes with other countries (70%), use of military force domestically (69%), and political violence (68%).
The things Americans are most likely to say there have been less of during Trump’s second term than to this point in his first: jobs created in this country (46%), bipartisan cooperation in Congress (43%), and Supreme Court rulings overturning Trump’s policies (37%).
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say Trump’s second term has had more government corruption (75% vs. 15%), illegal actions by the administration (75% vs. 17%), conflicts of interest involving Trump (78% vs. 23%), and false information shared by the administration (71% vs. 18%).
Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say that during Trump’s second term there have been more jobs created in this country (45% vs. 3%) and more legislation passed (45% vs. 26%).
In January 2025, 30% of Americans predicted there would be more political violence during Trump’s second term. More than twice as many (68%) now say there has been more political violence during Trump’s second term.
47% predicted there would be more use of military force domestically; 69% now say there has been more of this. Similarly, in January, 33% predicted there would be more political protests in Trump’s second term and now 51% say there have been more political protests.
38% of Americans thought there would be more jobs created during Trump’s second term but less (20%) say there have been.
In January, 55% of Democrats and 12% of Republicans thought there would be more political violence during Trump’s second term than in his first. Much larger shares of Democrats (77%) and Republicans (59%) now say there has been more political violence during the second term than by this point in the first. 62% of Democrats and 39% of Republicans thought there would be more use of military force domestically; 82% of Democrats and 63% of Republicans say there has been more of this during Trump’s second term than during his first term.
Among people who voted for Trump in both 2020 and 2024, 90% say there have been more immigration enforcement actions during his second term. Majorities also say there has been more restructuring of federal agencies (72%), more political violence (64%), more trade disputes with other countries (64%), and more executive orders issued (63%).
Around half of Americans who voted for Trump in both 2020 and 2024 say there has been less government corruption (49%) during Trump’s second term.
Related:
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- Most Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of free speech and a growing share say rights are eroding
- Trump's net approval is way down. Will the drop last?
See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Methodology: The poll was conducted online among 2,277 U.S. adult citizens on two separate 2025 surveys conducted September 12 -15 and September 15 - 21. 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 3%.
Image: Getty
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