{"id":203108,"date":"2025-03-31T08:40:30","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T12:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?p=203108"},"modified":"2025-04-10T13:47:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T17:47:10","slug":"most-americans-say-they-are-tuned-in-to-news-about-the-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2025\/03\/31\/most-americans-say-they-are-tuned-in-to-news-about-the-trump-administration\/","title":{"rendered":"Most Americans Say They Are Tuned In to News About the Trump Administration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Far fewer are hearing about the administration\u2019s relationship with the media than was the case early in Trump\u2019s\u00a0first term<\/h2>\n\n\n
\"President
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters on the White House South Lawn on March 21, 2025. (Demetrius Freeman\/The Washington Post via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
How we did this<\/summary>\n

Pew Research Center conducted this study to track how Americans are paying attention to news about the new Trump administration. For many years we have asked U.S. adults for their views and habits related to news about elections, presidential administrations and policy developments. This study builds on work we did leading up to the 2024 election<\/a>, and on studies in both 2017<\/a> and 2021<\/a> during the early stages of the Trump and Biden administrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do this, we surveyed 5,123 adults from Feb. 24 to March 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. Interviews 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<\/a> for this report, along with responses<\/a>, and its methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

The second Trump administration has started with a rapid succession of executive orders and policy changes<\/a>, including tariffs, cuts to government agencies and more. Americans are paying attention, but Democrats and Republicans give different reasons for why they are tuning in, according to a new Pew Research Center survey conducted in late February and early March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

As the president and his allies move to reshape the federal government and U.S. foreign policy, about seven-in-ten U.S. adults say they have been following news about the actions and initiatives of the Trump administration very (31%) or fairly (40%) closely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s about the same share who said they were following news about the presidential election<\/a> last September (69%), and slightly higher than the percentage who said they were following news about the actions and initiatives of the new Biden administration<\/a> in 2021 (66%). There is also a gap between now and the early days of the Biden presidency when it comes to the share who are following administration news very<\/em> closely (31% vs. 22%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Both partisan coalitions are paying attention to the actions and initiatives of the administration at similar rates. This is different from the first months of the Biden administration in 2021, when Republicans and Republican-leaning independents were less likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to say they were following the Biden administration\u2019s actions very or fairly closely (60% of Republicans vs. 75% of Democrats).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, 74% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats say they are following the Trump administration\u2019s actions at least fairly closely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four-in-ten Americans say they\u2019re now paying more attention to political news than they were before Trump took office, while just 10% say they are paying less attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats are slightly more likely than Republicans to say they\u2019re paying more attention (44% vs. 37%) and are also more likely to say they\u2019re paying less<\/em> attention (15% vs. 5%) than before the inauguration. Republicans, meanwhile, are more inclined to say their attention has been steady.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Reasons Americans follow \u2013 or don\u2019t follow \u2013 news about the Trump administration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The survey asked the 71% of Americans who say they are following news about the Trump administration very or fairly closely why<\/em> they are doing this. Respondents were given a list of five possible reasons why they might be following what Trump is doing, and indicated whether each was a major reason, minor reason or not a reason at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The most common reasons are concern and relevance.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n