Few approve of Musk’s job performance

Washington DC, April 28, 2025—New ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos polling finds that few approve of Elon Musk’s job in the Trump administration. At the same time, most Americans believe President Donald Trump is serious when discussing various policies and actions. Yet, most also do not support these policies.

To read more about Americans’ economic outlook, among other topics, heading into Trump's 100 day mark, please follow this link. To learn more about immigration and tariffs, please follow this link. Follow ABC News for more on this poll.

Detailed findings:

1. Since February 2025, approval of Musk remains low.

• Roughly one in three Americans approve of the way Elon Musk is handling his job in the Trump administration.
• Fifty-seven percent disapprove of Musk’s performance in the Trump administration, while one in ten (9%) have no opinion or skipped the question.
• Compared to two months ago, Musk’s job performance remains unchanged.

2. Most believe that President Donald Trump is serious about various policies and actions. However, most also oppose the policies tested.

• A majority of Americans believe Trump is serious when he talks about sending American citizens who are convicted of violent crimes to prison in other countries (71%), trying to take control of Greenland (68%), and serving a third term as president, even though the Constitution prohibits him from doing so (62%). Fewer Americans, though still a bare majority, believe Trump is serious when he talks about the U.S. trying to take control of Canada (53%).
• Yet, there is very little support for these policies and actions. One in three Americans (32%) support sending American citizens convicted of violent crimes to prisons in other countries, the policy that has the highest support among those tested. There is the lowest level of support for the U.S. trying to take over Canada, which only 13% of Americans support doing.

About the Study

This ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll was conducted April 18 to 22, 2025, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel^®. Invitations were sent to 3,634 panelists, resulting in 2,529 completed interviews. In quality control, 63 respondents were removed for skipping half or more of the questions for which they were eligible or for completing the survey among the fastest 1 percent of interviews.  Two additional respondents were removed for self-reporting an age less than 18. 

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult US population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population. KnowledgePanel members receive a per survey incentive, usually the equivalent of $1 (though for some it is $2) in points, that can be redeemed for cash or prizes. No prenotification email was sent prior to field. Panelists receive a unique login to the survey and are only able to complete it one time. Two reminders were sent to hard-to-reach respondents. Hard-to-reach is defined as 18-29 years old or non-Whites, less than high school or did not vote in the 2024 presidential election.  The remaining sample received one reminder email.

The study was conducted in both English and Spanish. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region by metropolitan status, household income, language dominance, 2024 presidential vote choice, and party identification. The demographic benchmarks came from 2024 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS) from the US Census Bureau. Language dominance benchmarks are from the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS). The 2024 presidential vote choice benchmarks came from the federal elections 2024 election results for the U.S. President while the Party Identification and frequency of internet use came from the 2024 National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS). The weighting categories were as follows:

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45–59, and 60+)
• Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other or 2+ Races Non-Hispanic, Hispanic)
• Education (No high school diploma or GED, High school graduate (high school diploma or the equivalent GED), Some college or Associate’s degree, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or above)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West) by Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
• Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
• Language Dominance (English dominant, Bilingual, Spanish dominant, non-Hispanic)
• 2024 Presidential Vote Choice (Harris, Trump, Another candidate, Not asked)
• Party Identification (Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Not lean, Lean Democrat, Democrat)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.10. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. Sampling error is only one potential source of error. There may be other unmeasured non-sampling error in this or any poll. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Mallory Newall
Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 374-2613
[email protected]

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