More Americans are unhappy with the way Trump is managing the
government, AP-NORC poll shows
[November 13, 2025]
By JILL COLVIN and LINLEY SANDERS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Approval of the way President Donald Trump is managing
the government has dropped sharply since early in his second term,
according to a new AP-NORC poll, with much of the rising discontent
coming from fellow Republicans.
The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs
Research was conducted after Democrats' recent victories in off-year
elections but before Congress took major steps to try to end the longest
shutdown in U.S. history. It shows that only 33% of U.S. adults approve
of the way the Republican president is managing the government, down
from 43% in an AP-NORC poll from March.
That was driven in large part by a decline in approval among Republicans
and independents. According to the survey, only about two-thirds of
Republicans, 68%, said they approve of Trump’s government management,
down from 81% in March. Independents’ approval dropped from 38% to 25%.
The results highlight the risks posed by the shutdown, which Trump and
his administration have tried to pin squarely on Democrats, even as U.S.
adults have cast blame on both parties as the funding lapse has snarled
air traffic, left hundreds of thousands of federal workers without
paychecks and compromised food aid for some of the most vulnerable
Americans. But it could also indicate broader discontent with Trump's
other dramatic — and polarizing — changes to the federal government in
recent months, including gutting agencies and directing waves of mass
layoffs.
Trump's approval on government management erodes among Republicans
Republicans have generally been steadfast in their support for the
president, making their growing displeasure particularly notable.
“I’m thoroughly disturbed by the government shutdown for 40-something
days,” said Beverly Lucas, 78, a Republican and retired educator who
lives in Ormond Beach, Florida, and compared Trump's second term to
"having a petulant child in the White House, with unmitigated power.”
“When people are hungry, he had a party,” she said, referring to a Great
Gatsby-themed Halloween party held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in
Florida. “I thought he seems callous.”
The survey found an overwhelming majority of Democrats, 95%, continue to
disapprove of Trump's management of the federal government, compared
with 89% in March.
Trump's overall approval holds steady
Even with the decline in support for his management of the government,
Trump's overall approval rating has remained steady in the new poll.
About one-third of U.S. adults, 36%, approve of his overall handling of
the presidency, roughly in line with 37% in an October AP-NORC poll.
Approval of his handling of key issues like immigration and the economy
have also barely changed since last month.
Health care emerged as a key issue in the shutdown debate as Democrats
demanded that Republicans negotiate with them to extend tax credits that
expire Jan. 1. But Trump’s approval on the issue, which was already
fairly low, has barely changed.
About one-third, 34%, of Americans said they approved of Trump's
handling of health care in the November poll, compared with 31% in
October.
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Demonstrators dressed as the TV series The Handmaid's Tale march to
the U.S. Supreme Court during a Trump Must Go Now rally in
Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
And many of his supporters are still behind him. Susan McDuffie, 74, a
Republican who lives in Carson City, Nevada, and retired several years
ago, said she has “great confidence in Trump” and thinks the country is
on the right track. She blames Democrats for the shutdown and the
suffering it’s caused.
“I just don’t understand how the Democrats can care so little about the
people,” she said, scoffing at the idea that Democrats were trying to
use the shutdown to force Republicans to address soon-to-skyrocket
health care costs.
“I don’t have any patience for the Democrats and their lame excuses,”
she said, arguing that people who are scared about SNAP benefits
expiring and struggling to put food on the table are a more pressing
issue.
Plenty of blame to go around
When it comes to the shutdown, there is still plenty of blame to go
around. Recent polls have indicated that while Republicans may be taking
slightly more heat, many think Democrats are at fault, too.
“I truly do believe it’s everybody. Everybody is being stubborn," said
Nora Bailey, 33, a moderate who lives in the Batesville area in Arkansas
and does not align with either party.
After recently giving birth, she said, she faced delays in getting a
breast pump through a government program that helps new mothers while
her son was in intensive care. And she is worried about her disabled
parents, who rely on SNAP food stamp benefits.
Overall, she said she is mixed on Trump’s handling of the job and
disapproves of his management of the federal government because she
believes he has not gone far enough to tackle waste.
“I don’t see enough being done yet to tell me we have downsized the
federal government instead of having all these excess people," she said.
It's possible that Trump's approval on handling the federal government
will rebound if the government reopens. But the showdown could have a
more lasting impact on perceptions of the president, whose approval on
the economy and immigration has eroded slightly since the spring.
Lucas, the Florida Republican, said shutdowns in which civilians aren't
paid are the wrong way to address ideological disagreement.
“Air traffic controllers? Really? You want to not pay the people in
whose hands your lives are every day?” she said. “We need to be
addressing these conflicts like intelligent people and not thugs and
bullies on the playground.”
___
Colvin reported from New York.
___
The AP-NORC poll of 1,143 adults was conducted Nov. 6-10 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 3.8 percentage points.
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