Americans Not Only Approve of Trump, but Say He’s Changing How Government Works

On Sunday, CBS News put out the results of their latest poll, showing Trump with a 51-49 percent approval rating. It’s worth mentioning, as has been mentioned in other polls, including Gallup, that Trump’s numbers are almost certainly impacted by the partisan times we live in. While just 13 percent of Democrats approve of the job that Trump is doing, 90 percent of Republicans approve. With this CBS News poll included, RealClearPolling has Trump at a +1.2 net approval. 

Trump enjoys a 51-49 percent approval rating in another area as well, specifically when it comes to cutting staff at government agencies, with 87 percent of Republicans saying so, though only 14 percent of Democrats do. Partisan politics shows throughout the poll, it turns out.

That’s not the only takeaway from such a poll, though. The headline focused on how “Americans say Trump is changing how government works, but divided over Musk, workforce cuts — CBS News poll.” A whopping 81 percent say Trump is making “major changes” to how government works. This includes strong majorities for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. One would certainly think so, given how he’s making use of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which he signed an executive order on last week. 

Do Americans think that those changes are for the better or worse? A plurality, at 40 percent, say it’s for worse, while 35 percent say it’s for the better. This could be another issue where partisan politics comes into play there, though.

As the poll write-up mentions [emphasis original]: 

The people who think Mr. Trump is changing the government for the better — who include a lot of Republicans and people who voted for him — overwhelmingly approve of things like his policies on deportation and his efforts to reduce the federal workforce. They would specifically give Elon Musk and DOGE a lot of influence.

Those who see major changes for the worse — most Democrats and those who didn’t back him — go the other way on all of this. Most of them don’t think Musk and DOGE ought to have any influence. They see reductions in the workforce as eliminating essential workers and as having the effect of consolidating Mr. Trump’s power.

As the headline suggests, respondents were also asked their thoughts on Musk and what workforce cuts, which has been going through lawsuits, including just days before the poll was released. One way the poll looked at this was through a question on what reductions to the federal workforce will do.

One of the most selected response, among all respondents, was “remove unnecessary jobs,” which 65 percent selected. Broken down by partisanship, 88 percent of Republicans said so, as did 67 percent of Independents, though only 39 percent of Democrats did. The response most selected by Democrats, with 83 percent saying so, included “impact your local area,” which 64 percent of overall respondents said and “remove essential workers,” which 56 percent of overall respondents said. 

Sixty-five percent also said that another consequence would be to “remove workers who politically oppose Donald Trump.” 

A majority of respondents, at 51 percent, also share that they believe there’s “a lot” of wasteful spending in government agencies. It’s not higher because Democrats are once more the odd man out. While 55 percent of Independents and 76 percent of Republicans say there’s “a lot,” just 22 percent of Democrats say so. A majority of Democrats, at 54 percent, say there’s only “some.”

The poll also asked Americans their views on how Trump is doing on various topics. He’s above water on the economy (51-49 percent approval rating) and immigration (54-46 percent), with Americans similarly saying they approve of his deportation program, 59-41 percent. Americans also approve approve and his handling of DEI (53-47 percent), though by 54-46 percent, Americans disapprove of his handling of inflation. Keep in mind that Biden left Trump with a catastrophic situation on the issue, and his approval ratings on this top of mind issue were much worse. This is one of those potential areas for improvement for Trump, especially as 80 percent of respondents want him to make it a high priority. Only the economy ranks higher, with 82 percent saying they want him to make it a high priority.

The write-up also had more to add about Trump’s approval rating on immigration, the issue that respondents believe he’s prioritizing most, with 73 percent saying he’s focusing “a lot” on the “U.S.-Mexico border.” 

“The focus on the border does help him politically: he gets approval on his handling of immigration, and most continue to back his deportation policy. Most say his policies are reducing the number of migrants crossing the border,” the write-up mentioned. Sixty-four percent of respondents acknowledge his policies are having border crossings “go down,”with even 43 percent of Democrats saying so.

The poll was conducted February 26-28 with 2,311 U.S. adults surveyed and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

This isn’t the only poll to show good approval numbers for Trump. As we covered last week, the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll showed Trump with a 52-43 percent approval rating. Matt also mentioned plenty more earlier on Monday. 

On Sunday, CBS News put out the results of their latest poll, showing Trump with a 51-49 percent approval rating. It’s worth mentioning, as has been mentioned in other polls, including Gallup, that Trump’s numbers are almost certainly impacted by the partisan times we live in. While just 13 percent of Democrats approve of the job that Trump is doing, 90 percent of Republicans approve. With this CBS News poll included, RealClearPolling has Trump at a +1.2 net approval. 

Trump enjoys a 51-49 percent approval rating in another area as well, specifically when it comes to cutting staff at government agencies, with 87 percent of Republicans saying so, though only 14 percent of Democrats do. Partisan politics shows throughout the poll, it turns out.

That’s not the only takeaway from such a poll, though. The headline focused on how “Americans say Trump is changing how government works, but divided over Musk, workforce cuts — CBS News poll.” A whopping 81 percent say Trump is making “major changes” to how government works. This includes strong majorities for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. One would certainly think so, given how he’s making use of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which he signed an executive order on last week. 

Do Americans think that those changes are for the better or worse? A plurality, at 40 percent, say it’s for worse, while 35 percent say it’s for the better. This could be another issue where partisan politics comes into play there, though.

As the poll write-up mentions [emphasis original]: 

The people who think Mr. Trump is changing the government for the better — who include a lot of Republicans and people who voted for him — overwhelmingly approve of things like his policies on deportation and his efforts to reduce the federal workforce. They would specifically give Elon Musk and DOGE a lot of influence.

Those who see major changes for the worse — most Democrats and those who didn’t back him — go the other way on all of this. Most of them don’t think Musk and DOGE ought to have any influence. They see reductions in the workforce as eliminating essential workers and as having the effect of consolidating Mr. Trump’s power.

As the headline suggests, respondents were also asked their thoughts on Musk and what workforce cuts, which has been going through lawsuits, including just days before the poll was released. One way the poll looked at this was through a question on what reductions to the federal workforce will do.

One of the most selected response, among all respondents, was “remove unnecessary jobs,” which 65 percent selected. Broken down by partisanship, 88 percent of Republicans said so, as did 67 percent of Independents, though only 39 percent of Democrats did. The response most selected by Democrats, with 83 percent saying so, included “impact your local area,” which 64 percent of overall respondents said and “remove essential workers,” which 56 percent of overall respondents said. 

Sixty-five percent also said that another consequence would be to “remove workers who politically oppose Donald Trump.” 

A majority of respondents, at 51 percent, also share that they believe there’s “a lot” of wasteful spending in government agencies. It’s not higher because Democrats are once more the odd man out. While 55 percent of Independents and 76 percent of Republicans say there’s “a lot,” just 22 percent of Democrats say so. A majority of Democrats, at 54 percent, say there’s only “some.”

The poll also asked Americans their views on how Trump is doing on various topics. He’s above water on the economy (51-49 percent approval rating) and immigration (54-46 percent), with Americans similarly saying they approve of his deportation program, 59-41 percent. Americans also approve approve and his handling of DEI (53-47 percent), though by 54-46 percent, Americans disapprove of his handling of inflation. Keep in mind that Biden left Trump with a catastrophic situation on the issue, and his approval ratings on this top of mind issue were much worse. This is one of those potential areas for improvement for Trump, especially as 80 percent of respondents want him to make it a high priority. Only the economy ranks higher, with 82 percent saying they want him to make it a high priority.

The write-up also had more to add about Trump’s approval rating on immigration, the issue that respondents believe he’s prioritizing most, with 73 percent saying he’s focusing “a lot” on the “U.S.-Mexico border.” 

“The focus on the border does help him politically: he gets approval on his handling of immigration, and most continue to back his deportation policy. Most say his policies are reducing the number of migrants crossing the border,” the write-up mentioned. Sixty-four percent of respondents acknowledge his policies are having border crossings “go down,”with even 43 percent of Democrats saying so.

The poll was conducted February 26-28 with 2,311 U.S. adults surveyed and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

This isn’t the only poll to show good approval numbers for Trump. As we covered last week, the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll showed Trump with a 52-43 percent approval rating. Matt also mentioned plenty more earlier on Monday.