{"id":198923,"date":"2025-02-07T10:55:30","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T15:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?p=198923"},"modified":"2026-07-09T18:21:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T22:21:20","slug":"public-anticipates-changes-with-trump-but-is-split-over-whether-they-will-be-good-or-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2025\/02\/07\/public-anticipates-changes-with-trump-but-is-split-over-whether-they-will-be-good-or-bad\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Anticipates Changes With Trump but Is Split Over Whether They Will Be Good or Bad"},"content":{"rendered":"

55% of Republicans say GOP congressional leaders do not have an obligation to support Trump\u2019s policies and programs if they disagree with him<\/h2>\n\n\n
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President Donald Trump talks to reporters in the Oval Office on Jan. 30, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
How we did this<\/summary>\n

Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand Americans\u2019 views of Donald Trump, his presidency and his administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this analysis, we surveyed 5,086 adults from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, 2025. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center\u2019s American Trends Panel (ATP), a group of people recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses who have agreed to take surveys regularly. This kind of recruitment gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. Surveys were conducted either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other factors. Read more about the ATP\u2019s methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the questions used for this report<\/a>, the topline<\/a> and the survey methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Less than a month into Donald Trump\u2019s return to the White House, the American public is evenly divided over the impact his new administration will have on the federal government: 41% say Trump\u2019s administration will improve the way the federal government works, and 42% say it will make things worse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chart<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And while Trump is a familiar figure in political life, the number and scope of his executive actions<\/a> in these first few weeks have still defied many Americans\u2019 expectations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n