The Washington Post/Ipsos poll is not good news for Trumpmusk:
President Donald Trump has opened his second term with a flurry of actions designed to radically disrupt and shrink the federal bureaucracy, but reviews from Americans are mixed to negative on many of his specific initiatives, and 57 percent say he has exceeded his authority since taking office, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll.
Overall, 43 percent of Americans say they support what the president has done during his first month in office, with 48 percent saying they oppose. Those who strongly oppose outnumber those who strongly support by 37 percent to 27 percent.
This is important:
Americans also are clear what the president should do if a federal court rules that he has done something illegal. More than 8 in 10 say he should follow the court ruling. That includes more than 9 in 10 Democrats along with roughly 8 in 10 Republicans and independents.
They are working overtime to propagandize their base, which is all they care about, into believing that the president is a king and there is no institution, law or norm, including the U.S. Constitution, that can tell him what to do. So far, it appears that they have only convinced 20% of them that this is right. We’ll see how that goes over the next few months as these cases make their way through the courts.
A majority of Americans believe the Supreme Court will try to stop Trump if he goes beyond his authority, but when asked whether Republicans in Congress will try to stop him if that happens, a majority say that Republican lawmakers are likely to go along with what Trump wants to do.
I suspect that 40% who think the Supreme Court will go along with Trump includes a whole lot of Democrats.
I’m surprised that there still exists a third of Americans who don’t realize that the GOP congress is nothing but Trump’s eager harem of sycophants and shills. Where have they been?
He is not getting great numbers on any issue. (In the CNN Poll he’s doing waaaay worse on the economy.)
People don’t like him or think he’s good at the job. And Musk is even worse:
On two personal attributes, most Americans say Trump is not “honest and trustworthy” (62 percent), while they are divided over whether he “has the mental sharpness it takes to effectively serve as president” — 47 percent say he does, and 50 percent say he does not.
Assessments of Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who oversees the effort to reshape the executive branch of government, are more negative than those of the president. The poll finds 34 percent saying they approve of the way Musk is handling his job, with 49 percent disapproving and 14 percent not sure.
Even the DEI stuff isn’t really popular which kind of surprises me. I thought that was the one thing that might get more popular support mainly because I think many white people don’t like it and some of those who do think it’s a trivial issue. Wrong: “Overall, 46 percent approve of what Trump has ordered on DEI, while 49 percent disapprove.”
A larger majority really doesn’t like this DOGE bullshit. Around 60% oppose shutting down USAID, laying off large numbers of federal workers, and 2 out of 3 are against shutting down the health agencies ability to communicate without going through a Trump hack.
How about the tariffs? Again, 60% don’t like the tariffs on Canada and Mexico while 50% are fine with the 10% tariffs on China. About 70% say these actions will cause prices to go higher. And they are very pessimistic that Trump is going to make anything better despite his promises to improve the economy on “day one.”
[O]verall impressions of the economy remain distinctly negative, with 73 percent saying the economy is either “not so good” or “poor” and 26 percent rating it “good” or “excellent.” The percentage rating it as poor has dropped from 33 percent in August and 42 percent in September 2023 to 21 percent now.
Pessimism prevails on specific aspects of the economy, with over 9 in 10 expressing negative views about food prices, about 3 in 4 feeling negative about gas and energy prices, more than 7 in 10 dour about the incomes of average Americans, and a majority even giving negative reviews about the unemployment rate, which has held steady around 4 percent in recent months.
If that’s all about “vibes” then Trump’s wrecking ball isn’t making anyone feel better about anything.
Just wait until the unemployment numbers come in next month.
Update — CNN has one too with similar results:
A broad majority feel the president isn’t doing enough to address the high prices of everyday goods. And 52% say he’s gone too far in using his presidential power, with similar majorities wary of his push to shutter federal agencies and elevate Elon Musk to a prominent role in his efforts to reshape the government.
[…]
Americans divide on Trump’s performance in office thus far, with 47% approving and 52% disapproving, below the start-of-term ratings for any recent presidency other than his own.
Most adults nationwide, 55%, say that Trump has not paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems and 62% feel he has not gone far enough in trying to reduce the price of everyday goods. Sizable shares across party lines share the latter view, including 47% of Republicans, 65% of independents and 73% of Democrats. In CNN’s January polling, the economy eclipsed all other issues as Americans’ top concern.
More describe themselves as pessimistic or afraid when looking ahead to the rest of Trump’s second term (54%) than say they feel enthusiastic or optimistic about it (46%). In December, 52% were on the positive side, 48% negative. Notably, the share saying they feel “afraid” has climbed 6 points to 35%, rising by a roughly equal share across partisan lines.