A poll released Wednesday found most Americans say that President Trump is attempting to exert more power than his predecessors.
The study conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center shows 69 percent of American respondents said Trump is trying to exercise more power than previous presidents, and almost half (49 percent) said this is “bad” for the country. Twenty-one percent said the president is attempting to exert about the same amount of power, and 7 percent were unsure.
Only 2 percent of respondents, meanwhile, said Trump is exercising less power than prior administrations.
The findings come more than eight months into Trump’s second administration. Recently, the president attempted to deploy the National Guard to three states and Washington, D.C.
At the beginning of the year, the White House ordered mass layoffs through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and offered buyouts at federal agencies. As of late September, the federal workforce has been slashed by approximately 8.7 percent, according to the Partnership for Public Service and the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute. The White House has also warned of layoffs during the government shutdown and suggested furloughed workers might not receive back pay.
The Pew Research Center found mixed responses among those surveyed regarding Trump’s actions. Thirty-nine percent of U.S. adults said Trump has improved the way the government works, while 59 percent said he has not.
Thirty-eight percent of respondents said Trump has run an open and transparent administration, while 60 percent said the opposite.
On the same day frequent Trump critic and former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty after a federal indictment, Pew showed that 66 percent of respondents said the president has used his position to punish those he does not like. About a third of those surveyed said the president has not done this. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) are other examples of officials whom Trump has said should face charges.
Sixty-one percent of survey participants said Trump has improperly used his office to enrich his family or friends, and 38 percent said they don’t think he has.
Still, another recent Pew survey found nearly three-quarters of American respondents say economic conditions in the U.S. are poor or fair. A separate survey from Fannie Mae revealed nearly 70 percent of Americans think the economy is on the wrong track.
Trump’s approval rating is hovering around 44 percent as of Tuesday, according to Decision Desk HQ.
The Pew Research Center survey, conducted from Sept. 22 to Sept. 28, reached 3,455 U.S. adults. The margin of error is 1.9 percentage points
Source: The Hill
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