Support is mixed for the Trump administration's executive orders and policies

Washington DC, February 20, 2025—New Washington Post/Ipsos polling finds that just under half of Americans approve of the job President Donald Trump is doing in office. The public has a mixed to negative reaction to the Trump administration’s executive orders and policies. Most feel Trump has gone beyond his authority as president, with few feeling Republicans in Congress will try to stop him.

Detailed findings:

Less than half of Americans approve of Trump, and fewer approve of Elon Musk's role in the federal government.  

• Forty-five percent of Americans approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president. A similar share approves of his handling of the economy (45%) and the managing of the federal government (44%). Slightly more (50%) approve of his handling of immigration.
• One in three (34%) approve of the job Musk is doing within the federal government. One in four (26%) approve of Musk shutting down federal government programs that he decides are unnecessary.
• Americans are split on whether Musk is mainly cutting wasteful government spending (37%) or is cutting necessary government programs (34%), with many unsure (26%).
• Most (63%) are concerned about Musk’s team getting access to some federal government databases that have Americans’ personal Social Security, Medicare, and tax information.

Less than half of Americans support some of the executive orders signed by the Trump administration, while other policies, like tariffs and immigration, have mixed support.

• Forty-six percent of Americans support ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government, the closest an executive order tested in this poll comes to majority support.
• Pardoning people convicted of violent crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot is among the least popular orders tested, with only 14% of Americans supporting this.
• There is mixed support for tariffs. Half (50%) support increasing tariffs by 10% on most products from China, while fewer support 25% tariffs on products from Mexico or Canada. Most (69%) feel imposing tariffs on products from Mexico, Canada, and China would make prices for products in the U.S. increase.
• Less than half support various immigration policies, like deputizing state and local law enforcement to arrest suspected undocumented immigrants at traffic stops and other locations (41%). However, a decisive majority (89%) say undocumented immigrants who have been accused of committing violent crimes should be deported.

Most feel Trump has gone beyond his authority as president and don’t believe Republicans in Congress will try to stop him.

• A majority (57%) believe that, since taking office, Trump has gone beyond his authority as president, while 40% feel he has acted within his authority as president.
• A decisive majority (84%) think that if a federal court rules that something the Trump administration did is illegal, the administration should follow the court ruling. Only one in ten (11%) believes the administration should ignore the court ruling.
• Few (33%) believe that Republicans in Congress will try to stop Trump if he goes beyond his authority as president. More (56%) believe that the Supreme Court will try to stop Trump if he goes beyond his authority as president.
• Most Americans want to see the next Congress controlled by Democrats to act as a check on Trump (54%) rather than controlled by Republicans to support Trump’s agenda (41%).

About the Study

This poll was jointly sponsored and funded by The Washington Post and Ipsos. The poll includes a random sample of 2,601 U.S. adults. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish.

The questionnaire was administered with the exact questions in the exact order as they appear in this document. Demographic questions are not shown. If a question was asked of a reduced base of the sample, a parenthetical preceding the question identifies the group asked. Phrases surrounded by parentheticals within questions indicate clauses that were randomly rotated for respondents.

Ipsos conducted sampling, interviewing and tabulation for the survey using the KnowledgePanel, a representative panel of adults age 18 and over living in the United States. KnowledgePanel members are recruited through probability sampling methods using address-based sampling. Panel members who do not have internet access are provided with a tablet and internet service.

Ipsos used probability-proportional-to-size sampling to draw a national sample of adults using the KnowledgePanel matching U.S. population benchmarks. This survey uses statistical weighting procedures to account for deviations in the survey sample from known population characteristics, which helps correct for differential survey participation and random variation in samples. The sample of was weighted to match population estimates for the demographic makeup of U.S. adults, as detailed in the table below.

All error margins have been adjusted to account for the survey’s design effect, which is 1.2 for this survey. The design effect is a factor representing the survey’s deviation from a simple random sample and takes into account decreases in precision due to sample design and weighting procedures. Surveys that do not incorporate a design effect overstate their precision.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson 
Senior Vice President, U.S. 
Public Affairs 
[email protected]

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