There’s at least one thing Americans widely agree on about President Donald Trump: they think he’s changing the way the government works.
But they’re more split on whether that’s for the better or worse.
His approach to immigration and deportation continues to receive positive marks, and his border policies are seen as effective. A large majority agree there is some waste in the federal government.
DOGE and Elon Musk’s efforts divide the nation, though, as Americans foresee an impact from dismissing federal workers. Half the country thinks this will cut their services and remove essential people. Half think it’ll save money.
Either way, it isn’t the main issue they want Mr. Trump focused on. They overwhelmingly say he should prioritize inflation and the economy, and far fewer think he actually is.
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.
Most Americans see a wide range of potential impacts from the federal workforce reductions.
For most Republicans, these reductions will lead to efficiencies and savings.
For Democrats, it’ll remove essential workers, and they also see political impacts: removing workers who don’t support him and conferring more power on Mr. Trump.
The public is on balance wary of Musk and DOGE’s access to government agency data records. Democrats and independents think he has too much access, but Republicans either say he has the right amount or would give him more.
That said, most do think there is at least some waste in the federal government, and that view crosses party lines. But they differ on how much and what causes it: Republicans think there is a lot, mostly caused by fraud in the system, while Democrats think there is only some, mostly caused by poor spending decisions.
Is Trump prioritizing what people want?
Mr. Trump gets narrowly positive ratings for handling the economy, but not inflation specifically.
There’s a big difference between what Americans think Mr. Trump ought to give high priority and what they think he is prioritizing.
They overwhelmingly want Mr. Trump focused on the economy and inflation. That cuts across partisan lines. (Perhaps no surprise there, as they’ve been among Americans’ top issues for years.)
The percent who think he is giving a lot of priority to the economy and inflation, though, is far lower.
Most think he is prioritizing the border, the federal workforce and tariffs, more so than inflation. And his policies aren’t seen as driving down food and grocery prices.
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.
That all leaves Mr. Trump’s approval rating in positive territory, but more closely divided than a couple of weeks ago.
In all, Republicans now overwhelmingly think things in the country are going at least somewhat well, which has driven up the overall percentage of Americans who are saying that since Mr. Trump took office.
Changes in international relations
Americans also think there are major changes happening with U.S. international relations. And again here, a split on whether that is better or worse.
Interviewing for the poll was almost entirely conducted prior to the Oval Office meeting between Mr. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Americans overall want to remain engaged on the world stage. Though few think the U.S. should take the leading role in the world, most do think it should work alongside its allies.
And most see the nations of Western Europe collectively (Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy) as allies of the U.S.
Half of Americans say they back Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, almost half are neutral.
In interviews largely conducted prior to the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting, few Americans thought Mr. Trump favored Ukraine in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Those who personally support Ukraine overwhelmingly say Mr. Trump favored Russia, while those who don’t pick a side overwhelmingly say he’s treated them equally.
His handling of the conflict is largely split along party lines.
Most Americans do continue to see Russia as unfriendly or an enemy. Republicans are comparably less inclined to see it as an enemy than are Americans overall.
The nation continues to divide along partisan lines over military aid to Ukraine.
This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,311 U.S. adults interviewed between Feb. 26-28, 2025. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to gender, age, race, and education, based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as 2024 presidential vote. The margin of error is ±2.5 points.
