Around seven-in-ten Americans (69%) say President Donald Trump is trying to exert more power than his predecessors. And most of those who say this describe Trump’s efforts as a bad thing for the country.
Overall, 49% of U.S. adults say Trump is trying to exercise more presidential power than previous presidents and that this is bad for the country. A much smaller share (12%) say he is trying to use more power and view this as good for the country.
Around one-in-five adults (21%) say Trump is trying to exercise about the same amount of power as other recent presidents. Only 2% say he is trying to exercise less presidential power.
There is a wide partisan split on this question:
- Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents overwhelmingly say Trump is pushing the power of the presidency beyond what other recent presidents did and that this is bad for the country.
- Republicans and Republican leaners are more divided: About half (49%) say Trump is trying to exert more power – and among those who say this, more say it’s good for the country than say it’s bad.
The new Pew Research Center survey of 3,455 U.S. adults, conducted Sept. 22-28, also finds that majorities of Americans say that since taking office in January, Trump definitely or probably has improperly used his office to:
- Punish those who say things he does not like (66%)
- Enrich himself or his friends and family (61%)
- Encourage federal investigations of his political opponents (62%)
Similar majorities say Trump definitely or probably has not set a high moral standard for the presidency (64%), improved U.S. standing around the world (60%), run an open and transparent administration (60%), or improved the way government works (59%).
These views largely echo Trump’s overall job approval rating in the new survey: 58% of Americans disapprove while 40% approve.
How Republicans and Democrats view Trump’s presidency, use of executive power
As was the case in Trump’s first term, there are wide partisan divisions in assessments of his performance as president.
At least seven-in-ten Republicans say that in his current term, Trump definitely or probably has improved the way government works (74%), improved the country’s standing in the world (73%) and run an open and transparent administration (70%).
A smaller majority of Republicans (63%) say Trump has set a high moral standard for the presidency.
Nine-in-ten or more Democrats say Trump hasn’t done each of these things.
By contrast, Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to say Trump has improperly used his office in various ways.
Roughly nine-in-ten Democrats say Trump has improperly used his office to punish those who say things he does not like (90% say this) and used his office to enrich himself or his friends and family (89%). Almost as many (85%) say he has improperly encouraged federal investigations of his political opponents.
Among Republicans, 42% say Trump has improperly used his office to punish those who say things he doesn’t like, while a nearly identical share (40%) say he has improperly encouraged federal investigations of political opponents. About three-in-ten Republicans (31%) say Trump has improperly used the office to enrich himself or his family or friends.
For the most part, Americans’ views on these questions are on par with their views during Trump’s first term. But Americans are more likely today (61%) than in 2019 (56%) to say Trump has improperly used his office to enrich himself or his friends and family, and this is the case in both parties:
- 89% of Democrats now say this, up from 84% in 2019.
- 31% of Republicans say this, up from 23%.
Meanwhile, Republicans are more likely today than in 2019 to say that Trump has set a high moral standard for the presidency (63% vs. 57%). Few Democrats say this today (8%), as was the case six years ago.
How partisans see Trump’s use of executive power
Republicans and Democrats have different views of whether Trump is trying to exercise more power than other recent presidents – and whether that is good or bad for the country.
Roughly half of Republicans (49%) say Trump is trying to exercise more presidential power than his predecessors, while 41% say he is exercising about the same amount. Only 3% say he is trying to exercise less power, while 7% say they are unsure.
About a quarter of Republicans (24%) say Trump is trying to exercise more presidential power than his predecessors and that this is good for the country. Fewer Republicans (14%) say he is doing this and that it is bad for the country. One-in-ten say he is doing this but they are not sure whether it is good or bad for the country.
Democrats overwhelmingly say Trump is trying to exercise more presidential power than previous presidents (90%), while much smaller shares say he is exercising about the same amount (3%), less (2%) or that they are unsure (5%).
Roughly eight-in-ten Democrats (83%) say Trump is trying to exert more presidential power and that this is bad for the country. Far fewer Democrats say he is doing this and that it is good for the country (1%) or that they are unsure of its impact (4%).
How Americans view Trump’s use of executive orders
In the new survey, roughly half of Americans (51%) say Trump is doing too much by executive order, while 6% say he is doing too little. About a quarter (27%) say Trump is doing about the right amount, while 16% are unsure. This is nearly identical to the public’s views in April.
- Today, 80% of Democrats say Trump is doing too much by executive order. Much smaller shares say he is doing about the right amount (5%) or too little (4%).
- More than half of Republicans (54%) say Trump is doing about the right amount by executive order. Roughly two-in-ten say he’s doing too much (23%), while 7% say he’s doing too little.
Views in both partisan coalitions are also largely unchanged from last April.
Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology.
