Only about half of Republicans say Trump has focused on the right
priorities, AP-NORC poll finds
[April 26, 2025]
By SEUNG MIN KIM and LINLEY SANDERS
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.
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President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he and first lady
Melania Trump depart on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White
House, Friday, April 25, 2025, in Washington. The President and
first lady will be traveling to Rome and the Vatican to attend the
funeral for Pope Francis. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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.”
___
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.
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