Reuters/Ipsos Large Sample Poll February 2025

Washington DC, February 25, 2025—The latest Reuters/Ipsos survey shows that half of Americans think the country is off on the wrong track generally and a majority of Americans believe the national economy, employment and jobs, and their cost of living are all going off on the wrong track specifically. The poll also shows that Americans believe that the very wealthy have too much influence on government in general.

Detailed findings:

• Forty-nine percent of Americans say that the country is headed off on the wrong track, 34% of say that the country is headed in the right direction and 16% don't know. When it comes to specific issues, a majority of Americans also believe that the national economy (53%) is off on the wrong track, as is their cost of living (64%). A plurality say that employment and jobs (44%) is also off on the wrong track. A majority of Americans say that corruption is off on the wrong track (53%). Americans are split on whether immigration policy is headed in the right direction (43%) or off on the wrong track (43%).
• When it comes to specific issues, 39% of Americans approve of how President Donald Trump is handling the economy, 37% approve of how he is handling employment and jobs and international trade, and 32% approve of how he is handling the cost of living and inflation and rising prices. Americans are split on their approval of Trump's handling of immigration, with 47% approving and 44% disapproving.
• Seventy-six percent of Americans agree that the very wealthy have too much influence on the government in general, and 71% agree the very wealthy have too much influence on the White House. Sixty-nine percent of Americans say the very wealthy are making money off their White House connections. Two-thirds of Americans say the American economy is rigged to advantage the rich and the powerful (67%).
• Fifty-eight percent of Americans say they worry changes in the federal government could cause delays in services people in their community rely on, such as Social Security payments and student aid.
• Just about a quarter of Americans (23%) say the president has the right to fire any federal employee who expresses disagreement with the administration's policies even if they are in non-political jobs with the government such as postal workers and other civilian workers.
• Just two in five Americans (41%) say they support new tariffs or taxes on imported goods from other countries, and 68% say that new tariffs or taxes on goods from other countries motivate them to vote in the next election.
• A majority of Americans support increasing the deportation of illegal immigrants (55%); however, a similar number (51%) oppose expanding detention facilities for illegal immigrants to include military bases such as Guantanamo Bay. Yet, 68% of Americans support creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Seventy-one percent of Americans say increasing the deportation of illegal immigrants is motivating to vote whether they support the policy or not, and 67% say that creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants is motivating to them to vote in the next election.

About the Study

This Ipsos poll was conducted February 13-18, 2025, on behalf of Reuters using the KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a representative sample of 4,125 U.S. residents, age 18 or older.

The study was conducted in English. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race and ethnicity, census region, metropolitan status, education, household income, party ID, and 2024 presidential vote. Party ID benchmarks are from the 2024 NPORS annual survey. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2024 March supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS).

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
• Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
• Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor degree, Master’s degree or above)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
• 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+)
• Party ID (Democrat, Lean Democrat, Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Something else)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 1.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.14 for all adults. 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:

Chris Jackson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]

Annaleise Azevedo Lohr
Director, U.S.
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]

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