After Week 1, Voters Have a Slightly Favorable View of Trump, but Oppose Many of His Executive Orders
By Rob Todaro and Lew Blank
In his first week as president (again), Donald Trump signed dozens of executive orders, repealing many directives signed by former President Joe Biden and seeking to reshape the federal government to enact his conservative agenda.
In a new poll, Data for Progress examined voters’ opinions of Trump as he retakes office and several of the new policies he has implemented — and asked voters whether or not they think Elon Musk did a Nazi salute at an inauguration celebration rally.
Trump enters his second term with a net positive favorability rating. Half of voters (50%) say they have a positive opinion of Trump, while 49% say they have an unfavorable opinion — a +1 net rating. However, while Republicans are nearly unanimously favorable of Trump, Independents are unfavorable by a -18-point margin.
When asked about 10 specific actions Trump took in the first week of his second term, voters support some of them, like labeling certain international drug cartels as "foreign terrorist organizations" and declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border. A majority of voters support both of these actions. However, most of the actions tested are unpopular, with an outright majority opposing Trump’s directives for federal agencies to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America" in official documents, to eliminate the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, and to end a policy that provided funding to help states enroll more residents in Medicaid.
Many of Trump’s initial actions have taken aim at the federal workforce. As shown above, half of voters (50%) are opposed to Trump making it easier to fire certain federal government employees for political reasons, while 37% are supportive. Unions are worried that Trump will go even further, as Project 2025 called for abolishing unions and union contracts altogether for American workers employed by the federal government. It’s unclear if Trump will pursue this, but the proposal is unpopular, with opposition from 57% of voters, including 64% of Independents.
Furthermore, a majority of voters (52%), including 61% of Independents and more than 1 in 5 Republicans (22%), oppose Trump’s decision to pardon nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, while 42% of voters support this decision.
The survey also asked voters how they interpreted Musk’s straight-arm gesture, which many have described as a Nazi salute. After being shown a 13-second clip of Musk’s speech that includes him saying “my heart goes out to you” and making two straight-arm gestures, 43% of voters say Musk was performing a Nazi salute, while the same percentage say he was not. Independents believe Musk was performing a Nazi salute by a +3-point margin.
Broadly, these findings indicate that Trump is beginning his second term with positive net favorability, but many of his executive orders are being poorly received by voters. Majorities oppose Trump’s termination of a policy that provided funding to help states enroll more residents in Medicaid, his directive to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," his pardons for the January 6 insurrectionists, and his elimination of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Furthermore, a plurality of Independent voters believe that Elon Musk performed a Nazi salute during a Trump inauguration celebration.
Rob Todaro (@RobTodaro) is the Communications Director at Data for Progress.
Lew Blank (@LewBlank) is a communications strategist at Data for Progress.
Cover photo attributed to Gage Skidmore.
