55% of Republicans say GOP congressional leaders do not have an obligation to support Trump’s policies and programs if they disagree with him

Less than a month into Donald Trump’s 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’s administration will improve the way the federal government works, and 42% say it will make things worse. 

And while Trump is a familiar figure in political life, the number and scope of his executive actions in these first few weeks have still defied many Americans’ expectations:

• For nearly three-in-ten adults (28%), his actions so far have been better than expected.
• But for a larger share (35%), his actions have been worse than expected.
• Another 36% say his early actions have been what they expected.

Related: What Americans think about Trump’s immigration actions early in his second term

Echoing partisan divisions during much of Trump’s first term in office, Republicans are upbeat about Trump’s actions and agenda, but Democrats find little to like:

• 67% of Republicans – including those who lean to the GOP – support all or most of Trump’s plans and policies. In contrast, 84% of Democrats and Democratic leaners support few or none.
• About three-quarters of Republicans (76%) say Trump will improve the way the federal government works. A nearly identical share of Democrats (78%) say he’ll make it worse. 
• Just over half of Republicans (53%) say Trump’s recent actions have been better than they expected, while six-in-ten Democrats (60%) say they’ve been worse than expected.

The latest national survey by Pew Research Center – conducted Jan. 27-Feb. 2 among 5,086 adults – finds that 47% of Americans currently approve of Trump’s job performance. This is a higher approval rating for Trump than at any point during his first term.

Still, his post-inauguration approval rating is lower than that of most other presidents dating back to Ronald Reagan. (The exception is George W. Bush’s early second-term rating, which was on par with Trump’s current rating.)

Visit Chapter 1 for more on Trump’s approval rating.

Views of Trump’s traits, qualities

Overall, the public expresses mixed to low confidence in Trump on several characteristics. More are confident in Trump’s leadership skills and mental fitness than in him to act ethically in office, respect the country’s democratic values or pick good advisers.

As in the past, most Republicans express high levels of confidence in Trump on all six dimensions, while Democrats have little to no confidence in him on any of them.

Republicans are particularly confident in Trump’s leadership skills and in his mental fitness to do the job. They are somewhat less confident in Trump on the other dimensions, but the shares expressing confidence in his ethics and staffing choices are higher than they were a year ago.  

For example, in April 2024, 46% of Republicans and GOP leaners said they were confident in Trump to act ethically in office. Today, 55% of Republicans say this. The share who say he picks good advisers is also up (50% then vs. 60% today).

Little appetite among either Republicans or Democrats for cross-party compromise

With the Republican Party in control of the presidency, Senate and House, 61% of Republicans want to see Trump stand up to Democratic congressional leaders on issues – even if it makes it harder to address critical problems facing the country.  A smaller share (38%) say he should try his best to work with them.

Seven-in-ten Democrats place a higher priority on their congressional leadership standing up to Trump on issues rather than on working with him to accomplish things.

Historically, those affiliated with the president’s party tend to be more open to compromise than those who support the opposing party. There is less appetite for compromise among Republicans today than there was among Democrats during Biden’s presidency.

Other findings: GOP loyalty, views of Trump’s long-term success, agenda and Jan. 6 pardons

A majority of Republicans say their own congressional representatives are not obligated to support Trump’s policies if they disagree with him. While Republicans largely back Trump’s plans and policies, 55% say GOP representatives in Congress do not have to support the president when they disagree.

Nearly half of Democrats (46%) say they support none of Trump’s plans and policies. Another 38% of Democrats say they support “only a few” of them. Among Republicans, 67% say they support all (18%) or most (49%) of Trump’s agenda.

The public is split on whether Trump will be a successful president. Roughly a third of the public (35%) says Trump will be a successful president in the long run. A third of Americans say he will be unsuccessful. Today, 31% say it is too early to tell – far smaller than the share who said this at the start of Trump’s first term in 2017.

Jump to read more about expectations and reactions to Trump’s presidency in Chapter 1.

Republican satisfaction with the state of the country surges, while Democratic satisfaction drops. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans (65%) now say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the country – up from 35% shortly after the election in November, and much higher than the roughly one-in-ten who expressed satisfaction throughout most of Biden’s presidency. Conversely, just 12% of Democrats are now satisfied with the state of the nation, down from 24% in November and 38% before the election.

And while about nine-in-ten Republicans (89%) expect 2025 to be better than 2024, roughly eight-in-ten Democrats (78%) expect it will be worse.

Nearly eight-in-ten Republicans approve of Trump’s pardons for those convicted of nonviolent crimes related to Jan. 6, 2021. But fewer than half (45%) approve of pardoning those convicted of violent crimes. Democrats overwhelmingly disapprove of the pardons for both groups.

Partisan opinions are reversed for Biden’s pardons of U.S. House Jan. 6 committee members and staff and the police officers who testified before the committee (72% of Democrats vs. 22% of Republicans approve of those pardons).

For more on presidential pardons related to Jan. 6, 2021, visit Chapter 1.