A new YouGov poll on Donald Trump’s support among 20 groups during his second term finds that many Americans believe Republicans in Congress and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have been more supportive than they expected those entities to be. Many Americans also say that Republicans in Congress have been more supportive of Trump than they would like them to be.
41% of Americans say Republicans in Congress have been more supportive of Trump than they expected them to be. Slightly fewer say the same thing about the DOJ (38%), Republican voters (37%), and technology companies (35%).
About half (49%) say that Democratic voters have been about as supportive of Trump as they expected them to be; the same share say this about conservative activist groups (48%).
Which groups have been less supportive of Trump than many Americans expected? 37% say Democrats in Congress have been less supportive of the president than they expected they would be. Around one-third (34%) say the same about universities.
One-third (33%) of Democrats say federal workers have been less supportive of Trump than they expected. About half (51%) of Republicans say Trump has gotten less support from Democrats in Congress than they expected him to.
Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to say that the following entities have been more supportive of Trump than they expected them to be: the Supreme Court (50% vs. 18%), law firms (33% vs. 9%), universities (29% vs. 7%), the news media (29% vs. 8%), and the Department of Justice (50% vs. 29%).
Among Americans who voted for Trump in 2024, 46% say leaders of ally countries have been more supportive of Trump than they expected. Nearly as many say Republican voters (43%) and Republicans in Congress (42%) have been more supportive than expected.
About half (53%) of Trump's 2024 voters say Democrats in Congress have been less supportive than they expected them to be. 45% say universities have been less supportive than they expected, and 44% say the same about Democratic voters.
44% of Americans say that during Trump's second term, Republicans in Congress have been more supportive of him than they would prefer. 43% say Republican voters have been more supportive than they would prefer, and 37% say the Supreme Court has been more supportive than they'd prefer.
Four in 10 Americans (40%) say Democrats in Congress have been less supportive of Trump than they would prefer; the same share (40%) say Democratic voters have been less supportive of Trump than they'd prefer.
Majorities of Democrats say Republicans in Congress (65%), Republican voters (63%), the Supreme Court (62%), and the DOJ (56%) have been more supportive of Trump during his second presidential term than they would prefer.
About one-quarter (24%) of Republicans say Republican voters have been more supportive of Trump than they would prefer them to be. 22% say the same about Republicans in Congress.
Among people who voted for Trump in 2024, majorities say that the following entities have been less supportive of Trump than they would prefer: Democrats in Congress (73%), Democratic voters (71%), the news media (64%), liberal activist groups (64%), and universities (62%).
Majorities of Trump's 2024 voters say people they know (57%), conservative activist groups (57%), and Republican voters (56%) have been about as supportive of Trump as they want them to be.
For many of the political entities asked about, larger shares of Americans say these entities are about as supportive of Trump as they expected them to be than say they are about as supportive of Trump as they want them to be. About half (49%) say Democratic voters are about as supportive of Trump as they expected them to be, but far less (35%) say that Democratic voters are as supportive of Trump as they would prefer. 48% say conservative activity groups are about as supportive of Trump as expected, but less (32%) say they’re about as supportive as they'd prefer.
Related:
- Comparing Donald Trump’s first and second terms as president
- Most Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of free speech and a growing share say rights are eroding
- More Americans trust the Trump administration than trust the media for fair, full, and accurate facts
See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted on October 15 - 17, 2025 among 1,118 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%.
Image: Getty
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