Pew Research Center

Democrats and Republicans place more importance on advancing own policies than finding common ground

About this research This Pew Research Center analysis examines Americans’ views of Trump and the two major parties. Why did we do this? Pew Research Center conducts research to help the public, media and decision-makers understand important topics. We have studied Americans’ views of politics and major policy issues, including views of the president, for decades. Learn more about Pew Research Center. How did we do this? We surveyed 5,103 U.S. adults from April 20 to 26, 2026. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The survey represents the views of the full U.S. adult population. Here are the survey questions used for this analysis, the detailed responses and the survey methodology. Republicans and Republican leaning independents overwhelmingly (76%) say Trump is doing an excellent or good job pushing for his policies, regardless of whether Democratic officials agree with them. By comparison, Democrats and Democratic leaners continue to be more critical of the job their elected officials have done at pushing against Trump’s policies when they disagree. Still, Democrats’ ratings of their party on this measure have improved since April 2025: Today, 36% of Democrats say Democratic officials are doing an

Americans continue to view both the Republican and Democratic parties negatively

About this research This Pew Research Center analysis examines Americans’ views of Trump and the two major parties. Why did we do this? Pew Research Center conducts research to help the public, media and decision-makers understand important topics. We have studied Americans’ views of politics and major policy issues, including views of the president, for decades. Learn more about Pew Research Center. How did we do this? We surveyed 5,103 U.S. adults from April 20 to 26, 2026. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The survey represents the views of the full U.S. adult population. Here are the survey questions used for this analysis, the detailed responses and the survey methodology. The American public’s views of the two major political parties are more unfavorable than favorable, with a substantial share expressing negative views of both parties. 58% of U.S. adults have an unfavorable view of the Republican Party. A nearly identical share (59%) have an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party. Favorable views of the Democratic Party have ticked up from a low of 36% in August 2025. While there have been relatively modest fluctuations in these overall ratings over

Trump Loses Ground on Several Personal Traits as Approval Rating Slips

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion on his “no tax on tips” policy at the AC Hotel Las Vegas Symphony Park in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 16, 2026. (Jim WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) About this research This Pew Research Center analysis examines Americans’ views of Trump and the two major parties. Why did we do this? Pew Research Center conducts research to help the public, media and decision-makers understand important topics. We have studied Americans’ views of politics and major policy issues, including views of the president, for decades. Learn more about Pew Research Center. How did we do this? We surveyed 5,103 U.S. adults from April 20 to 26, 2026. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The survey represents the views of the full U.S. adult population. Here are the survey questions used for this analysis, the detailed responses and the survey methodology. Americans’ assessments of President Donald Trump have declined steadily over the last several months. His job approval rating now stands at 34% – the lowest mark of his second term. He has also lost ground across a variety of personal attributes and

Americans remain critical of Trump’s approach to Iran

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln conducts U.S. blockade operations in the Arabian Sea on April 16, 2026. (U.S. Navy via Getty Images) Two months into the U.S. military conflict with Iran, Americans continue to express significant doubts about how President Donald Trump and his administration are handling the situation. About six-in-ten Americans (62%) disapprove of Trump’s handling of the military action against Iran, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. That includes 45% who strongly disapprove. Just over a third (36%) approve. These views have held steady since March, when 61% disapproved of Trump’s handling of the conflict and 37% approved. Nearly six-in-ten (59%) say that the U.S. made the wrong decision in using military force in Iran, while 38% say this was the right decision. This is also unchanged from the March survey. However, the share of Americans who say the military action is going not too or not at all well has ticked up. Today, 51% say it’s not going well, compared with 45% a month ago. Roughly two-in-ten (22%) say the military action is going extremely or very well. About this research This Pew Research Center analysis looks at Americans’ views of the U.S. military