A recent YouGov survey that was covered by the New York Times asked Americans how much they had heard about recent political news stories, how much they cared about them, and what they think about several newsworthy issues such as transgender athletes in women’s sports and whether a president can ignore orders from a judge.
The recent news events included in the February 14 - 18 survey that Americans were most likely to have heard a lot about were the shutdown of USAID (47%), layoffs of federal workers (43%), and Elon Musk’s claims of fraud in federal agencies (43%).
The news stories Americans were least likely to have heard a lot about were Donald Trump’s lawsuits against media organizations (15%) and a hostage exchange with Russia (15%).
YouGov ran two subsequent surveys asking Americans how much they had heard about these stories. One survey ran from February 18 - 20 and another ran from February 21 - 25. The shares of Americans who had heard at all about most of the stories didn’t change significantly over each time period. One exception is the story about Ukraine peace negotiations: The February 14 - 18 survey found that 21% said they had heard a lot about this story, which increased to 28% from February 18 - 20 and 31% from February 21 - 25.
Another exception was the story about tariffs on steel and aluminum: The shares who had heard a lot about the story decreased between the three surveys. The February 14 - 18 survey found that 32% had heard a lot about the tariffs in the prior week, a figure that dropped to 28% in the February 18 - 20 survey and 22% in the February 21 -25 survey.
There are some partisan differences in likelihood of hearing a lot about news stories. The news stories that Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say they’ve heard a lot about were banning transgender athletes from women’s sports (49% of Republicans and 36% of Democrats had heard a lot about this), the Israel-Hamas ceasefire (27% vs. 15%), and the hostage exchange with Russia (22% vs. 12%).
The events Democrats were more likely than Republicans to have heard a lot about were Trump ignoring orders by federal judges (38% of Democrats and 15% of Republicans have heard a lot about this), the Trump administration attempting to freeze federal grants (42% vs. 28%), attempts to drop charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams (26% vs. 16%), and Trump attempting to end birthright citizenship (39% vs. 29%).
The news events included in the survey that Americans were most likely to say they care a lot about are Musk’s claims of fraud in federal agencies (48%), banning transgender athletes from women’s sports (46%), and the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to Trump’s cabinet (45%).
The events that Americans cared about least were ending the production of pennies (only 14% care a lot about this and 35% say they don’t care at all) and attempts to drop charges against Adams (19% care a lot and 29% don’t care at all).
The biggest gaps between Democrats and Republicans on likelihood of caring a lot about news events: 66% of Democrats and 20% of Republicans cared a lot about Trump ignoring orders by federal judges. 58% of Democrats and 28% of Republicans cared a lot about layoffs of federal workers. 59% of Democrats and 33% of Republicans cared a lot about the Trump administration attempting to freeze federal grants. 40% of Democrats and 66% of Republicans cared a lot about banning transgender athletes from women’s sports.
The survey also asked Americans how they thought about specific news events being handled.
Removing Palestinians from Gaza and redeveloping it
26% of Americans strongly or somewhat support removing Palestinians from Gaza and having the U.S. redevelop it — a plan that Trump has suggested but subsequently stepped back from. 46% oppose this plan.
Republicans (48%) are more likely than Independents (19%) or Democrats (11%) to support this idea.
Transgender athletes in women’s sports
This is one of the issues in the survey that Americans are most likely to say they care about: 45% care a lot about this.
The majority of Americans (64%) say transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports; 20% say they should be able to.
An overwhelming majority of Republicans (92%), along with 58% of Independents and 43% of Democrats, say transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports. 4% of Republicans, 21% of Independents, and 36% of Democrats say they should be allowed.
Independents (22%) and Democrats (21%) are far more likely than Republicans (3%) to say they’re not sure.
Whether a president must follow a judge’s orders
If a judge rules that a president is not allowed to do something, 62% of Americans think the president must obey the judge’s order. 13% think the president is free to ignore the order.
Democrats (86%) are more likely than Independents (64%) and Republicans (40%) to say the president must obey the judge’s order. 2% of Democrats and 29% of Republicans think the president is free to ignore the judge’s order.
Dropping corruption charges against Eric Adams
In September 2024, Adams was indicted on five counts, including bribery, conspiracy, and campaign finance violations. In February 2025, federal prosecutors were instructed to drop the corruption case. 43% of Americans strongly or somewhat disapprove of this decision, while only 18% approve of it.
40% are not sure whether they approve or disapprove, an uncertainty reflected elsewhere in the data: 39% of Americans say they haven’t heard anything about this.
Among Americans who have heard a little, some, or a lot of news about this event, 54% disapprove of the decision and 24% approve.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s appointment to be Secretary of Health and Human Services
38% of Americans approve of Kennedy becoming the Secretary of Health and Human Services. A similar share (41%) disapprove.
Republicans (74%) are more likely than Independents (29%) and Democrats (12%) to approve of this.
Tariffs on imported steel and aluminum
32% of Americans said tariffs on imported steel and aluminum should be kept the same, according to a survey conducted before these tariffs were increased. 23% thought they should be lowered and 15% thought they should be raised.
Democrats (36%) were more likely than Independents (26%) and Republicans (8%) to say tariffs should be lowered.
U.S. production of pennies
Americans are nearly evenly split on the topic of the penny: 32% think the U.S. should stop producing the currency and 31% say it should not.
Republicans (45%) are more likely than Democrats (27%) and Independents (24%) to say the U.S. should stop producing pennies.
Related:
- What Americans think about Donald Trump's second term
- Many Americans and Canadians say higher U.S. tariffs hurt both economies; half of Canadians boycott U.S. companies
- Tariffs, Trump's speech, and DOGE: March 1-4, 2025 Economist/YouGov Poll
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 February 14 - 18, 2025 among 1,135 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: Unsplash
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