WASHINGTON — Many Americans do not agree with President Trump’s aggressive efforts to quickly enact his agenda, a new poll finds, and even Republicans are not overwhelmingly convinced that his attention has been in the right place.
Americans are nearly twice as likely to say Trump has been mostly focusing on the wrong priorities as to say he has been focusing on the right ones, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Further, about 4 in 10 Americans say Trump has been a “terrible” president in his second term, and about 1 in 10 say he has been “poor.” In contrast, about 3 in 10 say he has been “great or ”good,” while just under 2 in 10 say he has been “average.”
Most haven’t been shocked by the drama of Trump’s first 100 days. About 7 in 10 U.S. adults say the first few months of Trump’s second term have been mostly what they expected, and only about 3 in 10 say the Republican president’s actions have been mostly unexpected.
But that does not mean they are pleased with how those opening months have gone.
In fact, Democrats seem even unhappier with the reality of the second Trump term than before he was sworn in on Jan. 20. About three-quarters of Democrats say Trump is focused on the wrong topics and about 7 in 10 think he has been a “terrible” president so far. That is an increase from January, when about 6 in 10 anticipated that he would be “terrible.”
Rahsaan Henderson, a Democrat from California, said “it has been one of the longest 100 days I’ve ever had to sit through.”
“I think the next four years will be a test of seeing who can resist the most and continue defying whatever he’s trying to do, since he defies everything, including the Supreme Court,” said Henderson, 40.
Republicans are largely standing behind the president, but are ambivalent about what he has chosen to emphasize. About 7 in 10 say he has been at least a “good” president. But only about half say he has mostly had the right priorities so far, while about one-quarter say it has been about an even mix and about 1 in 10 said Trump has mostly had the wrong priorities.
“He’s really doing the stuff that he said he was going to do,” said Tanner Bergstrom, 29, a Republican from Minnesota. He is “not making a bunch of promises and getting into office and nothing happens. … I really like that. Even if it’s some stuff I don’t agree with, it’s still doing what he said he was going to do.”
Those who were surprised by Trump’s first few months seem to have had a rude awakening. The people who say Trump’s actions were not what they expected — who are mostly Democrats and independents — are more likely to say Trump has had mostly the wrong priorities and that he has been a poor or terrible president, compared with the people who mostly expected his actions.
About 4 in 10 in the survey approve of how Trump is handling the presidency overall. The issue of immigration is a relative strength. According to the poll, 46% of U.S. adults approve of his handling of the issue, which is slightly higher than his overall approval. But there are also indications that foreign policy, trade negotiationsand the economy could prove problematic as he aims to prove his approach will benefit the country.
Trump’s approval on those issues is much lower than it is on immigration. Only about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of how he is handling each. Republicans are less likely to approve of Trump’s approach to trade and the economy than immigration.
There are additional signals that some Trump supporters may not be thrilled with his performance so far. The share of Republicans who say he has been at least a “good” president has fallen about 10 percentage points since January. They also have grown a bit more likely to say Trump will be either “poor” or “terrible,” although only 16% describe his first few months that way.
Republican Stephanie Melnyk, 45, from Tennessee, is supportive of Trump’s handling of the presidency more broadly but said she did not approve of his handling of foreign affairs, particularly on the war in Ukraine. Melnyk’s family emigrated from Ukraine and she said Trump is “trying for a quick fix that’s not going to last” and that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is not to be trusted.”
Melnyk, who voted for Trump largely for his positions on immigration, said she wished the president would stay on script.
“He sounds like he can be very condescending, and it sounds like my way or the highway,” Melnyk said. “It’s like, dude. You’re not 12.”
It’s common, though, for a president’s standing to be at its best before taking office and beginning the work of governing. And Trump continues to hold high approval from Republicans.
About 4 in 10 Americans have a favorable opinion of Trump, roughly in line with his approval number. Among Republicans, the figure is about double: About 8 in 10 Republicans have a positive view of the president, and about the same share approves of how he is handling the presidency. About one-third of U.S. adults have a favorable opinion of Vice President JD Vance, including about 7 in 10 Republicans.
Those Republicans interviewed were particularly fond of efforts to scale back the size of the federal government led by billionaire outside adviser Elon Musk and Trump’s cost-cutting initiative, the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.
“Overall, I would have to say that I’m happy with the Trump presidency,” said Matthew Spencer, 30, a Republican from Texas. “I think that the Department of Government Efficiency has made great strides in reducing our spending, and I also agree with putting America first. I agree with the policies he’s put in as far as border protection and America standing for itself again as far as the tariffs.”
“We’re only three months in, but so far, so good,” said Carlos Guevara, 46, who lives in Florida. Guevara, a Republican, said DOGE has been a “smash hit” and on tariffs, and while there may be short-term pain, “if that does encourage businesses to start manufacturing here … then that’ll wash out over time.”
Democrats have a much bleaker outlook on the economy than they held before Trump took office. The poll also found that the vast majority of Democrats think he has “gone too far” on deportations and tariffs.
Gabriel Antonucci, 26, a Democrat who recently moved to South Carolina, said Trump’s second term is “just a lot more ridiculous” than he had anticipated.
“It really seems like he is doing everything he can to make the wrong decisions,” Antonucci said. “Things are probably going to be worse in four years than they are right now.”
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,260 adults was conducted April 17-21, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
