With President-elect Donald Trump set to return to the White House in January, Americans are narrowly divided over his policies and plans for the future.
- A narrow majority of U.S. adults (53%) say they approve of his plans, including 27% who strongly approve.
- 46% say they disapprove, including 30% who disapprove strongly.
Republicans and Democrats are deeply divided over the president-elect’s plans.
- 88% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they approve of Trump’s plans, with more than half (54%) saying they strongly approve.
- 82% of Democrats and Democratic leaners disapprove of Trump’s plans. About six-in-ten (59%) strongly disapprove.
Confidence the presidential transition will go smoothly
In contrast to 2020, most Americans (70%) today are at least somewhat confident the transition from the Biden administration to the Trump administration will go smoothly, including 26% who are very confident.
Four years ago, only about a quarter of Americans (26%) were confident that there would be a smooth transition from the Trump administration to the incoming Biden administration.
Both Republicans and Democrats are more confident in an orderly transition now than they were in 2020.
- 79% of Republicans are very or somewhat confident in a smooth transition, up from 32% in 2020.
- Democrats are less confident than Republicans that the transition will go well (64% say they are very or somewhat confident), but the share who say this is about three times higher than it was in 2020 (21%).
Trump’s conduct since the election seen more positively than in 2020
Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris receive similar marks from the public for their conduct since Election Day.
- 53% say Trump’s conduct has been good or excellent in the post-election period, while 45% say his behavior has been only fair or poor.
- 56% say Harris’ conduct has been excellent or good, while 42% rate her conduct as only fair or poor.
Both Trump and Harris receive somewhat lower marks for their conduct than President Joe Biden did after the 2020 election, when 60% of adults said Biden’s conduct was excellent or good.
Ratings of Trump’s conduct are significantly more positive now than after the 2020 election.
The share of Americans who rate his conduct as excellent or good is 25 percentage points higher than it was in the 2020 post-election period, when just 28% viewed his behavior positively amid his campaign’s legal challenges to the vote and ballot counting in several states.
Today, the overwhelming majority of Republicans (85%) give Trump positive marks for his behavior since Nov. 5. Four years ago, slightly more than half of Republicans (54%) characterized Trump’s behavior as excellent or good.
Democrats are overwhelmingly negative about Trump’s post-election conduct. Still, 22% give positive ratings, which is up from just 6% four years ago.
Trump’s outreach to Harris supporters
Most Americans – regardless of political party – say it is at least somewhat important that Trump reach out to Harris’ supporters to try to bring the country together.
Overall, 22% say it is extremely important that Trump reach out to Harris’ supporters, while 30% say it is very important. Three-in-ten say reaching out is somewhat important, while just 17% say it is not too (10%) or not at all (7%) important for Trump to try to unify the country.
Democrats (58%) are somewhat more likely than Republicans (48%) to say it is very or extremely important for Trump to reach out to Harris’ supporters.
Voters see Trump’s efforts to reach out to Harris’ supporters as lacking so far.
- Overall, just 31% of Americans rate Trump’s efforts at reaching out to Harris’ supporters as excellent (6%) or good (25%). About two-thirds say his efforts have been only fair (28%) or poor (38%).
- Republicans are more positive about Trump’s outreach than Democrats: 54% in the GOP say he’s done a good or excellent job reaching out, while only 9% of Democrats say this. Two-thirds of Democrats say Trump’s efforts have been poor; just 10% of Republicans say the same.
Expectations for bipartisan relations in Washington
Nearly half of Americans (45%) expect relations between Republicans and Democrats in Washington to get worse in the coming year. By comparison, just 14% except relations between the two parties to get better, while 41% expect them to stay about the same.
A greater share of Americans expect worsening party relations now than after the 2020 election (45% today vs. 37% then). Pessimism about relations between the two parties is now roughly on a level with where it was after the 2018 midterm elections, when 44% expected them to get worse.
Democrats (69%) are far more likely than Republicans (23%) to say they expect things to get worse between Republicans and Democrats over the next year. About half of Republicans (53%) expect things to stay the same, compared with 27% of Democrats. And while about a quarter of Republicans (23%) say partisan relations will get getter next year, just 5% of Democrats say this.
