WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President dramatic changes to the federal government haven't emerged as an obvious political winner or loser, according to a new poll that indicates some Americans may be giving him the benefit of the doubt for now on his Department of Government Efficiency.
poll found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults 鈥渟omewhat鈥� or 鈥渟trongly" approve of Trump's handling of Social Security and a similar share approve of the way he鈥檚 managing the federal government.
Those numbers are almost identical to Trump's overall presidential approval, suggesting that his Republican administration鈥檚 moves to , , and haven鈥檛 yet created a significant independent backlash 鈥� or spurred independent support.
Views of Trump and his adviser are still largely intertwined, despite Democrats鈥� recent focus on Musk. The two men when the conservative candidate they had endorsed for the Wisconsin Supreme Court . Musk and the groups he backed spent more than $21 million in the race, the first major test of .
The poll, which was conducted before Tuesday's election, found that both Trump and Musk are viewed more negatively than positively and are largely rated similarly by Americans overall. Very few Americans have a positive view of one man and a negative view of the other.
Trump鈥檚 actions on DOGE largely mirror his overall approval
Immigration as a relative strength for Trump, while trade relations with other countries appeared to be a relative weakness. Unlike those issues, U.S. adults鈥� views on Trump鈥檚 handling of Social Security and management of the federal government are indistinguishable from his overall approval rating.
This suggests that Americans may have a less developed opinion of Trump鈥檚 actions in this area, or they may be waiting to weigh the impact.
There are hints in the poll that Trump鈥檚 pledge to cut government spending may be resonating. Closer to half of U.S. adults approve of Trump鈥檚 approach to government spending, which is slightly higher than his overall approval rating.
鈥淚 love DOGE,鈥� said Adam Marefka, a 42-year-old facilities maintenance specialist from Birmingham, Alabama, and a Trump supporter. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e cutting wasteful spending. We need a smaller government, and there鈥檚 only one way to do that."
Others see recklessness. Or, as Paul Vaitkus, of St. Petersburg, Florida, put it: 鈥淭otal craziness.鈥�
鈥淭hey鈥檙e not going to just trim where it needs to trim,鈥� said Vaitkus, a 66-year-old retired cardiologist. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to do huge damage to agencies, and it鈥檚 going to erode the ability of those agencies to provide services to American taxpayers.鈥�
Trump's handling of Social Security is more popular with adults age 60 or older than with younger adults. Despite that, older adults 鈥� who tend to be more conservative overall but would also be affected by cuts or changes to Social Security 鈥� are no more likely to approve of how Trump is handling his job generally.
Even if there鈥檚 no clear backlash now, slashing popular programs like Social Security could still quickly take Trump and Musk into perilous territory. An AP-NORC poll conducted in January found that while Republicans and Democrats were divided on whether the U.S. government is spending 鈥渢oo much鈥� or 鈥渢oo little鈥� on the military, assistance to the poor and education, solid majorities of both said that .
鈥淎ll I want from this country is the government to help the seniors and the veterans. Not to take care of them. Help them,鈥� said George Collins, 80, a retired bagel maker living in Fort Mohave, Arizona. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard when you're living on Social Security.鈥�
Collins, a Trump supporter, said the president's second term is going much better than his first, and he wishes Trump's critics and the courts would get out of his way.
鈥淚 wish people would just give him the time,鈥� Collins said. 鈥淟et him try to fix it at least.鈥�
Few Americans dislike Musk and support Trump
Despite , the opinion of the influential billionaire remains largely indistinguishable from views on Trump. About half of U.S. adults have a 鈥渟omewhat鈥� or 鈥渧ery鈥� unfavorable opinion of both Musk and Trump, according to the poll, while about 3 in 10 have a 鈥渟omewhat鈥� or 鈥渧ery鈥� favorable view of both men. Only around 1 in 10 have a positive view of Trump and a negative view of Musk.
Trump picked Musk to oversee a push to shrink the federal government, cull the federal workforce and slash spending on agencies disfavored by the White House, prompting a flurry of legal action.
is an important goal, said Julio Carmona, a 40-year-old health professional in Stratford, Connecticut. But Carmona believes Musk, the world's richest person, lacks significant government experience and is not the right person for the job.
鈥淵ou pick a guy who has the means that he has, that part of it just doesn鈥檛 sit well with me,鈥� Carmona said. 鈥淭here could鈥檝e been so many different qualified people that he chose, but he chose Elon Musk to do that.鈥�
That sliver of Americans with distinct views of Trump and Musk appear to largely be Republicans. About half of Republicans, for example, have a very favorable view of Trump, while about 4 in 10 say that about Musk. They鈥檙e far from a majority of people who share their party identity, though 鈥� about two-thirds of Republicans have a positive view of both Trump and Musk.
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Cooper reported from Phoenix.
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,229 adults was conducted March 20-24, using a sample drawn from NORC鈥檚 probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
Amelia Thomson-deveaux And Jonathan J. Cooper, The Associated Press
