51视频

10/29/2025

Media Contacts: Email David_Joyner@uml.edu, executive director, communications and digital media. email: Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu, associate director of media relations

LOWELL, Massachusetts 鈥� While a majority of respondents give President Donald Trump low marks on his job performance and believe the country is in trouble, Democrats and Republicans agree on little else, according to a new national poll released Wednesday by the Center for Public Opinion at 51视频 and YouGov.

Conducted from Oct. 16 through Oct. 20, the poll of 1,000 American adults found Trump鈥檚 approval rating sits at 42% while 65% believe the country is on the wrong track.

However, those numbers may say less about Trump than they do about an electorate dissatisfied with the leadership of either major party: Results from a national 51视频-YouGov poll conducted in April 2024 similarly showed then-President Joe Biden with a 42% approval rating, with 68% saying the country was on the wrong track.

鈥淭hese numbers are not particularly strong for the Trump administration, especially considering we鈥檙e in the first year of his second term,鈥� said 51视频鈥檚 Rodrigo Castro Cornejo, assistant professor of political science and associate director of the center. 鈥淗is approval ratings are largely driven by partisanship 鈥� 88% of Republicans approve of his performance, compared to only 30% of independents. This suggests a weaker mandate than usually assumed, at least from a public opinion standpoint, just a year before the midterms.鈥�

Other poll results appear driven by partisanship as well. For example, in 2024, when asked how much they would support or oppose a constitutional amendment allowing a president to serve more than two terms, self-identified Republicans and Democrats were almost evenly against the idea, with 76% of Democrats and 75% of Republicans strongly or somewhat opposed. Now, the country appears more divided on the issue. In the current poll, 94% of Democrats say they are against allowing a president to serve more than two terms, while only 55% of Republicans are opposed.

Respondents also split along party lines when asked whether federal law enforcement agents should be prohibited from covering their faces while on duty. Poll results show

57% of all respondents are strongly or somewhat support such a ban, while 44% strongly or somewhat oppose it. However, there is a clear partisan split within that total, with 76% of Democrats strongly or somewhat supporting a ban (25% opposed), 35% of Republicans strongly or somewhat supporting a ban (65% opposed) and 58% of independents supporting a ban and 43% opposed.

Americans also can鈥檛 seem to agree on the state of the economy. In the new survey, 52% of respondents say it has become somewhat or much harder to pay for basic necessities over the last six months, close to the 54% of respondents who said the same thing in the June 2024 poll. However, in the 2024 poll when Biden was president, 36% of respondents identifying as Democrats said it had become somewhat or much harder to afford basic necessities, compared to 70% of respondents identifying as Republicans and 65% of independents. In the current poll, a similar 54% of independents say it has become more difficult to pay for their necessities, but 76% of Democrats and only 25% of Republicans say the same thing.

The poll asked respondents how they feel about various public and political figures. Only one person receives above 50% favorable ratings from Democrats, Republicans, and independents: country music superstar Dolly Parton.

No treats for Democrats this Halloween

Despite Trump鈥檚 low approval rating, Democrats have their work cut out for them to re-take a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections, poll results show. Of all survey respondents, 38% say they would vote for a Democratic candidate, 35% say they would vote for the Republican candidate, 2% say they would vote for another candidate, 11% are undecided, and 14% say they won鈥檛 vote.

The survey also shows respondents lay the blame for many of the country鈥檚 troubles at the feet of both Democrats and Republicans. When asked which party is more responsible for political violence, 33% of all respondents answer Democrats, compared to 36% who name Republicans. Meanwhile, 36% of respondents blame Democrats for people feeling unsafe to express their real views and opinions, slightly lower than the 39% who blame Republicans for people feeling unsafe to express themselves. And when it comes to the government shutdown, 35% of respondents blame Trump or congressional Republicans, only slightly higher than the percent who blame Democrats in Congress (30%), with 35% saying that all parties are equally to blame.

鈥淒espite low approval ratings in the poll for President Trump, there are few treats for Democrats. Instead of candy bars, respondents are giving Democratic leaders boxes of raisins,鈥� said 51视频鈥檚 John Cluverius, associate professor of political science and the Center for Public Opinion鈥檚 director of survey research.

The nonpartisan poll has an adjusted margin of error of +/- 3.47 percentage points. Funded by 51视频, the survey was designed and analyzed by the university鈥檚 Center for Public Opinion and fielded by YouGov. Detailed poll results 鈥� including topline and full methodology 鈥� are available at .

The Center for Public Opinion presents events and polling on political and social issues to provide opportunities for civic engagement, experiential learning and real-world research. The center is a member of the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Transparency Initiative. Detailed poll results and analysis are available at . 51视频 representatives are available for interviews about the new poll.