WASHINGTON 鈥 Many Americans do not agree with President Trump鈥檚 aggressive efforts to quickly enact his agenda, a new poll finds, and even Republicans are not overwhelmingly convinced that his attention has been in the right place.
Americans are nearly twice as likely to say Trump mostly focused on the wrong priorities as they are to say he focused on the right ones, according to the survey from听.
About 4 in 10 Americans say Trump has been a 鈥渢errible鈥 president in his second term, and about 1 in 10 say he has been 鈥減oor.鈥 In contrast, about 3 in 10 say he's 鈥済reat" or "good," while just under 2 in 10 say he's 鈥渁verage.鈥
Most haven鈥檛 been shocked by the drama of Trump鈥檚 first 100 days. About 7 in 10 U.S. adults say the first few months of Trump鈥檚 second term were mostly what they expected, and only about 3 in 10 say the Republican president鈥檚 actions were mostly unexpected.
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That does not mean they are pleased.
In fact,听听with the reality of the second Trump term than before he was sworn in on Jan. 20. About three-quarters of Democrats say Trump is focused on the wrong topics and about 7 in 10 think he's a 鈥渢errible鈥 president so far. That is an increase from January, when about 6 in 10 anticipated he would be 鈥渢errible.鈥
Rahsaan Henderson, 40, a Democrat from California, said 鈥渋t has been one of the longest 100 days I鈥檝e ever had to sit through.鈥
鈥淚 think the next four years will be a test of seeing who can resist the most and continue defying whatever he鈥檚 trying to do, since he defies everything, including the Supreme Court,鈥 he said.
Republicans largely stand behind the president, but are ambivalent about what he chose to emphasize. About 7 in 10 say he's at least a 鈥済ood鈥 president. Only about half say he mostly had the right priorities so far; about one-quarter say it's been about an even mix and about 1 in 10 said Trump mostly had the wrong priorities.
鈥淗e鈥檚 really doing the stuff that he said he was going to do,鈥 said Tanner Bergstrom, 29, a Republican from Minnesota. He is 鈥渘ot making a bunch of promises and getting into office and nothing happens.听鈥 I really like that. Even if it鈥檚 some stuff I don鈥檛 agree with, it鈥檚 still doing what he said he was going to do.鈥
Those who were surprised by Trump鈥檚 first few months seem to have had a rude awakening. The people who say Trump鈥檚 actions were not what they expected 鈥 who are mostly Democrats and independents 鈥 are more likely to say Trump had mostly the wrong priorities and has been a poor or terrible president, compared with the people who mostly expected his actions.
About 4 in 10 in the survey approve of how Trump is handling the presidency overall.听听According to the poll, 46% of U.S. adults approve of his handling of the issue听鈥 slightly higher than his overall approval.
However, there are indications that听,听听听could prove problematic.
Trump鈥檚 approval on those issues is much lower than it is on immigration. Only about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of how he is handling each. Republicans are less likely to approve of Trump鈥檚 approach to trade and the economy than immigration.
The AP-NORC poll of 1,260 adults was conducted April 17-21, 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.
There are additional signals that some Trump supporters may not be thrilled with his performance so far. The share of Republicans who say he's at least a 鈥済ood鈥 president fell about 10 percentage points since January. They also grew a bit more likely to say Trump will be either 鈥減oor鈥 or 鈥渢errible,鈥 though only 16% describe his first few months that way.
Republican Stephanie Melnyk, 45, of Tennessee voted for Trump largely for his positions on immigration. She is supportive of Trump鈥檚 handling of the presidency but not his handling of foreign affairs,听. Her family emigrated from Ukraine and she said Trump is 鈥渢rying for a quick fix that鈥檚 not going to last鈥 and Russian President Vladimir Putin 鈥渋s not to be trusted.鈥
It鈥檚 common for a president鈥檚 standing to be at its best before taking office and beginning the work of governing.
About 4 in 10 Americans have a favorable opinion of Trump, roughly in line with his approval number.
About 8 in 10 Republicans have a positive view of the president, and about the same share approves of how he is handling the presidency. About one-third of U.S. adults have a favorable opinion of Vice President JD Vance, including about 7 in 10 Republicans.
Republicans interviewed were particularly fond of efforts to scale back the size of the federal government led by billionaire outside adviser Elon Musk and Trump鈥檚 cost-cutting initiative, the Department of Government Efficiency.
Democrats have a much bleaker outlook on the economy than they held before Trump took office. The poll also found that the vast majority of Democrats think he has 鈥済one too far鈥 on deportations and tariffs.
